A long applause greeted President Sergio Mattarella upon his arrival in the hall of the Spanish Congress.
"We are happy to welcome the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella," said the president of the Congress of Deputies Meritxell Batet before introducing the speech of the head of state.
"Each Parliament is a temple of democracy.
The confrontation between different visions is placed there, in view of a synthesis oriented towards the common good. A confrontation which is the essence of democracy and the affirmation of the rule of law, because it is registered within the limits and guarantees of Constitution. A meeting point for all citizens and - at the same time - a starting point for guaranteeing social peace, well-being and development ", said Mattarella speaking to the Spanish Congress.
"It is up to the Parliaments to bridge the gap between the trajectory marked by the aspirations contained in the constitutional texts and the real conditions, through political confrontation. It is a difficult and exciting task".
"The long experience as a member of Parliament has consolidated my convictions on the irreplaceable centrality of the parliamentary function - added Mattarella - in the development of a national society and in the ability to transmit a dimension of democratic participation in multilateral organizations in which the international community is increasingly it is destined to organize itself. Here - in Parliament - Honorable representatives, the freedom of a people resides ".
"Italy and Spain are countries between which there is a natural, fraternal sharing. Our ties derive from history, from the common Latin root of our languages, from belonging to a geographical and cultural horizon that is both European and Mediterranean. forged an extraordinary relationship between our populations, with aspirations and visions that have mutually enriched. Both our countries are at the center of an area, the Mediterranean, poised between possible marginality in the global development axes and incisive integration between two continents , Africa and Europe. It therefore seems natural to work together, so that our requests can receive adequate consideration, thus strengthening and fortifying the entire building of the European Union ".
"Parliaments - together with our civil societies - represent a" driving force "of our relationship. The forge where ideas and sensibilities are transformed into political lines", explained the President of the Republic.
"We are going through a period of great transformations, of imperious growth in technology, of renewed tensions at the planetary level and of crisis on our borders. A period in which it will be decisive to maintain constant attention to the safeguarding of rights, freedoms and protections, painstakingly conquered since the last century. These are issues that the national parliaments, together with the Strasbourg Assembly, will have to consider at the center of their agenda ".
