Leader of the Opposition (Spain)

Leader of the Opposition Líder de la oposición
Logos of the political parties disputing the title
Incumbent No official holder (Disputed) since 31 October 2016, the office is disputed between several PSOE candidates and Podemos' leader Pablo Iglesias
Residence	No official residence
Appointer	None
Term length	No fixed term While leader of the largest political party not in government
Inaugural holder	Felipe González
Formation	13 July 1977

The Leader of the Opposition (Spanish: Líder de la oposición) is an unofficial, mostly conventional and honorary title traditionally held by the leader of the largest party in the Congress of Deputies—the lower house of the Spanish parliament, the Cortes Generales—not within the government. He/she is usually the person who is expected to lead that party into the next general election.

The last undisputed Leader of the Opposition was Pedro Sánchez, who served until resigning from the role on 1 October 2016.

There is some ambiguity on the requirements needed to hold the post due to its workings being based mostly on custom and convention. The term of "Leader of the Opposition" is only legally recognized in a Royal Decree passed in 1983 establishing the order of preference of public authorities in general official acts organized by the Crown, Government or the State Administration, acknowledging the figure of Opposition Leader but only to put it in fifteenth place in the list of precedences.

By agreement of the Congress bureau of 28 December 1982, Manuel Fraga was officially recognized as Leader of the Opposition by the PSOE government of Felipe González—himself having unofficially led opposition from 1977 to 1982. Such an agreement established a series of conditions for the role and awarded some prerogatives for the officeholder:

However, despite the possibility for some privileges in consideration of its position being optionally awarded, the Leader of the Opposition is not entitled to a specific salary aside from the one they may have by reason of holding a public office on their own—such as that of deputy or senator. In addition, the officeholder usually receives much more attention from the media in parliamentary sessions and activities, such as in the yearly-held State of the Nation Debate.