Pair dined with the Spanish church dignitary (7)
I believe the answer is:
prelate
'church dignitary' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'pair dined with the spanish' is the wordplay.
'pair' becomes 'pr'.
'dined' becomes 'ate'.
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'the spanish' becomes 'el'.
'ate' after 'el' is 'elate'.
'pr'+'elate'='PRELATE'
(Other definitions for prelate that I've seen before include "Pleater (anag.)" , "Bishop perhaps" , "High-ranking member of clergy, say bishop" , "High-ranking clergyman" , "Church high-ranker" .)