The Board of Spokespersons (Spanish: Junta de Portavoces, is a parliamentary body of each house of the Cortes Generales and is a council of party representatives mainly entrusted with the task of advising the Bureau on the agenda of the Parliament. The Board also decides on the composition of parliamentary committees.[1]
Each House (the Senate and the Congress of Deputies) possesses its own Board of Spokespersons made up by the Speaker of the House and the Spokespersons of every parliamentary group.
Each Board meets every week during the session of Parliament.
The Chairperson of the Board of Spokespersons is the Speaker of the respective House.
Spokesperson
The spokesperson of each parliamentary group is a full member of the Board of Spokespersons. A parliamentary group's spokesperson is the whip and act's upon orders of the leader of the political party (who is also president of the parliamentary group).
Mixed Group
The Mixed Group is a parliamentary group made up of the members of political parties without enough MPs to form their own Parliamentary Group. From the members of this group a Spokesperson is chosen to represent them in the same way as any other group.
Other attendees
The representative of the executive branch (normally the Secretary of State for Relations with the Cortes or the Director-General for Relations with the Cortes also attends the Boards meetings. The Clerks of the Cortes Generales (chief legal counsel, Spanish: Letrado Mayor del Congreso de Diputados) also attend to give legal advice.
The Board of Spokespersons of the Senate is made up by the Speaker of the Senate and the Spokespersons of the Parliamentary Groups. In addition to Parliamentary Groups, Senators can form Territorial Groups (groups of Senators from an autonomous community), and two representatives from each territorial group may attend meetings of the Board of Spokespersons when what is going to be discussed affects a specific region).[2]
The Board of Spokespersons must be consulted to arrange:[3]
The dates on which the sessions of the House begin and end.
The agenda of the sessions of the Senate.
The criteria that contribute to order and facilitate the debates and tasks of the Senate.
The interpretive or supplementary rules that may be dictated by the Speaker.
The Board of Spokespersons of the Congress of Deputies is made up by the Speaker of the Congress of Deputies and the Spokespersons of the Parliamentary Groups. The Spokesperson or the Deputy Spokesperson (if the Spokesperson can't attend) may be assisted by a member of its Parliamentary Group, although with no vote.[5] Meetings of the Board must include at least one of the Vice Presidents (or Deputy Speakers) of the Congress, one Secretary of the Congress and the Secretary-General of the Congress of Deputies (an administrative office held by the Senior Clerk).[6]
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