Congress of Deputies

What Congress of Deputies does

The Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados) is the lower house of the bicameral Cortes Generales, the national parliament of the Kingdom of Spain, constitutionally established under Article 66 of the 1978 Spanish Constitution and composed of 350 deputies elected by proportional representation. It exercises exclusive legislative functions including approval of laws and the General State Budgets, oversight and scrutiny of the Government, election of the President of the Government, and processing of popular legislative initiatives from citizens. The institution is headquartered at Plaza de las Cortes in Madrid across six parliamentary buildings totaling 89,000 square meters, and employs between 1,001 and 5,000 staff.

The Congress operates a digital parliamentary platform with several interconnected modules: live broadcasting and video archive (Congreso TV, Videoteca, Archivo Audiovisual), official publication systems with CVE electronic verification codes backed by FNMT-RCM electronic seals (Boletín Oficial de las Cortes Generales, Diarios de Sesiones), searchable databases for parliamentary initiatives and interventions, an open data portal exposing voting records and deputy information, and a transparency portal providing institutional and budgetary data. Educational engagement is delivered through Tu Parlamento/Congreso Explicado, the Portal Educativo, and the Blog Fuera de Agenda, with active presence across Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Telegram. Since August 1, 2012, official publications are issued exclusively in electronic format.

The institution is publicly funded through the General State Budgets with no commercial revenue generation; there is no pricing model, no customer transactions, and no revenue at risk. Stakeholder "segments" are non-paying constituencies: Spanish citizens (primary), the 17 regional autonomous-community parliaments (coordination), and international parliamentary bodies such as the European Parliament, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, and the UN Inter-Parliamentary Union (diplomatic cooperation). The current legislature is the XV (2023-present), with Francina Armengol Socias serving as President since August 17, 2023.

Name

Congress of Deputies

Legal name

Congreso de los Diputados

Website

https://congreso.es

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

The Congress of Deputies is the constitutionally mandated lower house of Spain's Cortes Generales, exercising exclusive legislative, budgetary, and government oversight functions on behalf of Spanish citizens. It is publicly funded, non-commercial, and operates a digital platform for transparency and civic engagement.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legislative Government Services

NAICS

Legislative Bodies (921120), Legislative Bodies (92112), Other General Government Support (92119)

akta.pro primary industry

State Legislature/Regional Assembly Administration (BPAIABAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Parliamentary/Government Proceedings Channels (MPABAIAL)

Keywords

• Legislative proceedings
• Parliamentary oversight
• Public governance
• Open government data
• Citizen representation

Headquarters

HQ city

Madrid

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Public Funding (General Budgets of the State): Government institution funded through the General State Budgets (Presupuestos Generales del Estado), financed by taxpayer contributions. No commercial revenue generation.

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Congress of Deputies is Spain's lower legislative house, exercising constitutional functions of approving laws and the General State Budgets, controlling Government action, and electing the President of the Government. It delivers these functions through a digital parliamentary platform offering live and archived session broadcasts, official electronic publications authenticated via CVE codes, searchable databases of legislative initiatives and interventions, and transparency and open data portals for citizen access.

Product overview

The Congress of Deputies operates a digital platform consisting of multiple interconnected modules for parliamentary communication and citizen engagement. The core offerings include Congreso TV for live broadcasts, Videoteca and Archivo Audiovisual for on-demand video content, official publication systems (BOCG) with electronic verification (CVE), and comprehensive search databases for parliamentary initiatives and interventions. The platform also provides open data access to voting records and deputy information, alongside educational initiatives through Tu Parlamento, the Portal Educativo, and the Fuera de Agenda blog. Citizens can access virtual building tours and transparency information through dedicated portals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Canal Parlamento: Parliamentary channel broadcasting congressional activities and sessions
• Fuera de Agenda
• Tu Parlamento
• Congreso TV

Products and services

• Congreso TV (Congreso en directo) Live streaming platform broadcasting parliamentary plenary sessions, committee meetings, and institutional events in real-time for public viewing.
• Videoteca Video library containing categorized recordings of parliamentary proceedings including presidents' speeches, tutorials, historical documents, and virtual tours.
• Archivo Audiovisual Historical audiovisual archive providing on-demand access to recorded plenary and committee sessions with search by date or parliamentary organ.
• Publicaciones Oficiales Electronic official publications service providing the Boletín Oficial de las Cortes Generales (BOCG) and Session Diaries (Diarios de Sesiones) with CVE verification for authentication of electronic documents.
• Búsqueda de Iniciativas Searchable public database of parliamentary initiatives including legislative proposals, projects, and non-legislative proposals.
• Búsqueda de Intervenciones Searchable public database of parliamentary interventions and speeches delivered during sessions.
• Datos Abiertos (Open Data) Open data portal providing public access to voting records, deputy information, parliamentary initiatives, interventions, and parliamentary organ data.
• Portal de Transparencia Transparency portal providing institutional and organizational information, economic and budgetary data, and citizen access to public information.
• Portal Educativo Educational portal providing resources to inform citizens and schools about parliamentary functions and procedures.
• Tu Parlamento / Congreso Explicado Digital educational platform explaining parliamentary processes, terminology, and legislative procedures to citizens.
• Visita Virtual Virtual tour offering interactive exploration of the Congressional building and facilities for remote visitors.
• Public Guided Visits Program (Visitas Guiadas) Organized guided visits to the Congressional palace and facilities for groups and individuals at the Madrid headquarters.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• European ParliamentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInterparliamentary cooperation with the European Parliament including participation in European Parliamentary conferences, EU legislative control, and European affairs coordination.
• Council of Europe - Parliamentary AssemblycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for interparliamentary dialogue on human rights, rule of law, and democratic standards across Europe.
• United Nations - Inter-Parliamentary Union (UIP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMembership and active participation in the Inter-Parliamentary Union (UIP), the global organization of national parliaments, for international parliamentary cooperation.
• Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre - Real Casa de la MonedacoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnical partnership for electronic document sealing and certification services. FNMT-RCM provides the electronic seal certificates used to authenticate official Congressional documents and publications.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• German Bundestag: Lower house of the German federal parliament. Closely comparable in chamber size, legislative mandate, and digital infrastructure maturity, including open data and plenary broadcasting; frequently benchmarked in EU parliamentary modernization discussions.
• Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): Global organization of national parliaments in which the Congress is a member. Provides data, openness standards, and digital tools (e.g., PARLINE) used by member legislatures, making it a peer platform rather than a direct competitor.
• European Parliament: Supranational legislative body with which the Congress shares a documented core strategic partnership. Operates a similar digital transparency stack (open data, plenary streaming, electronic documents) at multinational scale, making it the closest functional and technological peer.
• Italian Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati): Lower house of the Italian Parliament with a directly analogous constitutional designation ("Camera dei Deputati"). Operates a similar citizen-facing digital platform, electronic publication system, and open data portal in a fellow Southern EU member state.
• Spanish Senate (Senado de España): The upper house of the Spanish Cortes Generales. Operates the same bicameral legislative system with overlapping digital services (open data, electronic publications, live streaming) and identical constitutional mandate framework, making it the most directly comparable peer.
• UK House of Commons: Lower chamber of the UK Parliament with a globally recognized digital transformation program (open data, Hansard search, parliamentary petitions). Comparable in mandate, scale, and long-running investment in citizen-facing transparency technology.
• French National Assembly (Assemblée nationale): Bicameral lower house in a neighboring EU member state with comparable constitutional function, headcount scale, and bilingual digital publication infrastructure. One of the most frequently cited comparators for Spanish parliamentary modernization.
• Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly: Interparliamentary body where the Congress of Deputies holds core partnership status. Comparable in digital transparency norms, plenary broadcasting, and member-state legislative coordination across 46 national parliaments.

Broad incumbents

• U.S. House of Representatives: Largest national lower chamber in the OECD with mature legislative information systems (congress.gov, Clerk XML feeds). Functions at significantly greater scale but is widely referenced as the global benchmark for legislative open data, making it a relevant comparator for the Congress's data and transparency roadmap.

Regional players

• Portuguese Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República): Lower house of the Portuguese Parliament and the closest Iberian peer. Comparable in chamber size, mandate, and digital transparency infrastructure, with shared language and historical parliamentary traditions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Congreso_Es
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCT3tvU3bVxOa3ZiVD-B7h9g
• Facebookfacebook.com/CongresodelosDiputados
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/congreso-de-los-diputados
• Instagraminstagram.com/congreso_diputados

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Congress of Deputies