The upper house of the Spanish parliament the Senate on Tuesday ratified the Lisbon Treaty after the Deputy Congress gave its approval with a large majority.

The approval makes Spain the 23th out of 27 member countries to back the document.

On June 26, the Deputy Congress, the lower house of the parliament voted in favor of the treaty with 332 votes in favor, six against and two abstentions.

The Lisbon Treaty, which is designed to improve the EU's decision- making process, needs to be ratified by all of the bloc's 27 member states.

Ireland, the only country to hold a referendum over the treaty, rejected it with 53.4 percent of the voters saying "no."

(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2008)