Press conference by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, at the 36th Spanish-Portuguese Summit

La Rábida, Huelva

SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SPAIN, PEDRO SÁNCHEZ

Good morning, bom dia.

And thanks to the media, both in Spain and Portugal, for following this press conference.

I would also like to thank the ministers and vice-presidents of both the Portuguese Government and, of course, the Government of Spain, who have made the 36th summit between Spain and Portugal possible.

I would like to thank you, prime minister, Luís, for your presence here today in La Rábida. As you saw at the beginning, we had the opportunity to pay tribute to the victims of the Adamuz accident. Some of them are closely linked to the International University of Andalusia, where we are holding this summit.

And also, of course, the victims of the floods that both countries have unfortunately suffered in recent weeks have been very present in our memories.

Today, two friendly countries, two neighbouring countries, met here, highlighting something very important in these times, which is friendship and close cooperation between countries as the best way to improve the lives of our fellow citizens.

We are holding, as I said before, this Spanish-Portuguese Summit deeply concerned about the international situation.

Of course, from Spain's perspective, the escalation of war in the Middle East is a real threat, not only to world peace, which would be enough, but also to the prosperity of companies, families and households in our countries, due to the obvious rise in the cost of living that our economies, mainly our domestic economies, will suffer.

Therefore, you know what the position of the Government of Spain is, and I would also say that of a large majority of Spanish society, to reject this war, and to vindicate multilateralism, which, by the way, is represented so well when we talk about the United Nations by the current Secretary General of the United Nations, the Portuguese António Guterres, as well as, logically, global trade.

We also say yes to this transatlantic link that Spaniards and Portuguese share, but which we also understand, from the Government of Spain, from openness, from respect and from loyal and equal collaboration when we speak of this Atlantic relationship. An Atlanticism where international law, rules, are the backbone and cooperation, not confrontation, is the way forward.

Our countries are also at the forefront of Europeanist commitment. And I think it is very important to highlight this. Therefore, in the case of Spain, in response to a request from a European country such as Cyprus, we have provided support in a mission to protect, defend and rescue, to which Spain has obviously responded.

And, as you know, the frigate Cristóbal Colón will arrive off the Cypriot coast in the next few days to contribute to the defence and collective security of a country which, unfortunately, as a result of this conflict in the Middle East, has suffered an attack on its own soil.

And with the same determination that leads us to say no to the war in Iran, we are obviously determined to show solidarity and to help, to lend a hand, in this case, to a Member State of the European Union that is the victim of this very conflict.

As you know, Spain and Portugal have many challenges that unite us and therefore invite us to work together. Because we know that this is the best way to solve them.

And today, if there is one challenge that challenges us, that affects us directly in the Iberian Peninsula as a whole, it is the climate emergency.

More than 500 years ago, a Portuguese and a Spaniard led the first circumnavigation expedition around the planet and proved that the Earth was round, thereby defying the flat Earthers of the time.

Five centuries later, those flat Earthers who questioned Magellan and Elcano are called climate deniers.

2025 was the year with the most hectares burned by fires in Europe since records began. More than one million hectares in the European Union and more than half of them in the Iberian Peninsula.

Last month, the succession of storms that we have suffered, both Portugal and Spain, have caused historic floods, deaths and material damage that both governments are having to respond to from a financial point of view.

In the case of Spain, as you know, we have had to approve a royal decree law with a very large amount of financial resources.

We are talking about more than 7 billion euros to deal with these storms that have hit Spain over the last few weeks, the first few weeks of 2026, and which have undoubtedly been particularly serious in the neighbouring country, in Portugal, and we therefore express our solidarity with Portugal.

Because of this indisputable reality, Portugal and Spain have today sealed an alliance for climate security. We have signed a joint declaration on the climate emergency and we will strengthen our cooperation on civil protection and also on emergencies.

Moving on to other issues that are also relevant, precisely in order to combat these climatic emergencies in advance, I would like to highlight the cooperation that we are going to strengthen in the area of the Atlantic constellation, made up of 16 Earth observation satellites that will enable both Spain and Portugal to better prevent the floods that may occur, the fires, the heat waves that both countries may suffer.

Portugal and Spain also once walked together towards democracy and towards Europe. This year, in fact, we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of our accession to the then European Community and both countries will continue to build Europe together.

For Spain, as you know, the recipes that our Union needs are based on a more competitive Europe based on three pillars.

The first is sustainability and decarbonisation.

Secondly, investment, for example, in more innovation, and this is where I believe that, finally, this joint project between Spain and Portugal to strengthen our scientific and technological capacities of the Iberian Energy Storage Research Centre is fundamental. Or to promote the coordination of our candidacies for important projects such as the Artificial Intelligence gigafactory.

And finally, something that the prime minister shared with me in the bilateral meeting we had and which I believe to be fundamental, and that is to link cohesion with competitiveness.

I believe that this is the contribution that the two Iberian countries are going to make in the negotiations that are going to begin this year for the new multiannual financial framework, i.e., the budgets of the European Union, to put it colloquially, because obviously there can be no competitiveness without cohesion and there can be no cohesion without competitiveness.

This means defending social and territorial cohesion policy, continuing to strengthen the common agricultural policy and also something that both the Portuguese Government and the Government of Spain have shared when there has been a debate in the European Council, precisely at the proposal of the President of the Council, Antonio Costa, which is housing policies. Housing policy, which must also have a European angle, with European funds to be able to face a common challenge such as the impossibility for many European citizens to buy or rent housing.

I will end by simply underlining that we have a very important milestone for the Ibero-American community next November in Madrid, with the holding of the 30th Ibero-American Summit on 4 and 5 November, where both Portugal and Spain will be mobilised. We are going to mobilise our diplomatic resources to have a broad presence of all the governments of the Ibero-American community, where I believe that now, especially now, where there are very few effective multilateral spaces, having this type of multilateral space where we bring together many governments of different ideological orientations and from two different continents is very relevant.

Finally, I would like to say that we are obviously working together on the preparations for the World Cup between Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

Spain is the reigning European champion. Portugal is the last winner of the Nations League, and so what we hope is that the World Cup will stay at home in the Iberian peninsula.

I would like to close this brief opening speech with a very special remembrance of António Lobo Antunes, whose work helped, of course, to better understand the history and soul of Portugal. May he rest in peace and may his literature continue to light our way.

That's all. Obrigado. Thank you very much.

Q.- [Ana Romeu, RTP] Good afternoon. On behalf of Portuguese journalists. Mr President, I would like to know if you have managed to convince your Portuguese counterpart and Prime Minister Luis Montenegro to stay on the right side of history, as you advocate when we talk about the US-Israeli attack on Iran.

And if at least you have the intention or the idea that, as happened with Palestine, in which Spain played a leading role, if in the end the same thing is going to happen with the recognition of Palestine, which later other countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Portugal ended up doing.

President.-: Thank you for your questions.

As far as I am concerned, you will understand that the foreign policy of each country is decided by each government. And as far as the Government of Spain is concerned, it is clear from today's polls in the media that the Government of Spain is not only on the side of international legality, but also on the side of a very large majority of Spaniards who are clearly against this illegal intervention.

Q.- [Lucía Fernández, Antena 3] Hello, how are you? Good afternoon. Thank you for this press conference.

I will pass on the questions on behalf of the Spanish press covering this summit.

As we have seen, the conflict in the Middle East also played a major role in the meeting. Donald Trump has again insisted on these criticisms of Spain.

I wanted to ask (...) President Pedro Sánchez two questions on this issue. The first is: What is your response to these criticisms?

And secondly, how concerned is the Government of Spain that these threats to break off trade relations will materialise?

And then you also referred to the frigate being sent to Cyprus. I wanted to ask you why you consider that this matter should not be submitted to Congress for authorisation, as the People's Party is requesting.

And then also, is it not contradictory to send that frigate to Cyprus with the strong No to War message that you repeated again today? Some of your partners are already criticising you.

Thank you.

President: Well, thank you very much, Lucia, for your questions.

Regarding the first of the questions about the US president's criticism of my country yesterday. I would like to say several things.

First, I have enormous respect for the presidency of the United States and enormous admiration for American society. Respect and admiration.

On this basis, I believe that the Government of Spain's position is clear. We have expressed it since the beginning of the war. With regard to our position, how we characterise this war, which is clearly outside international legality, and therefore, what the position of the Government of Spain is going to be.

I also believe that among allied countries it is good to help when one is right and also to point out when one is wrong or making a mistake, which is the case.

This war in Iran, in my opinion, in the opinion of the Government of Spain, is an extraordinary mistake that we are going to pay for and that in fact the consequences are already being paid for in the form of higher oil prices, higher gas prices and, of course, let us not forget the number of victims and the pain and suffering that a region, in this case the Middle East, has been suffering for many years with successive crises, successive wars that, unfortunately, are superimposed on one another, giving continuity to this instability, this insecurity that we are obviously all seeing in the media.

Therefore, admiration for American society, respect for the presidency of the United States and a clear position by the Government of Spain regarding our position in a war that we consider to be a mistake, but also one that does not conform to international law.

That is the Government of Spain's peace of mind.

Why are we in Ukraine? Because there is a violation of international legality by a country that is invading a third country, which in this case is Putin's Russia.

Why are we for the Palestinian cause and therefore against the genocide in Gaza? Because there is an outrage, a flagrant violation of international law, which, by the way, international law is the same as law, respect for human rights.

And in the same way we are also pointing out what a huge mistake this is, this crisis, this war which, in short, began last Saturday.

Secondly, on the frigate that we have sent and the Lower House of Parliament and so on.

If we are defending international legality and that is our peace of mind, that we are coherent in our defence of international legality in each and every one of the conflicts that are ravaging the world, then we obviously adjust all our decisions to national legality.

And therefore, I would also like to say, of course, that the decision we have taken to lend a hand to Cyprus in a mission that is clearly a defensive mission, not an offensive one, which above all is a rescue mission, to help a country that today, unfortunately, has suffered the consequences of a war that they did not provoke, is logically in line with the Organic Law on National Defence approved by Parliament in 2005.

Two. Look, 23 years ago, a president of the Government of Spain got us into an illegal war, the war in Iraq, and it took him ten months, ten months to appear before the Lower House of Parliament.

Today I have announced that I will appear before Parliament to report on the Government of Spain's position, which is precisely the opposite, which is not to involve Spain in a war that is illegal.

What I find rather surprising is the position of the opposition parties, both the People's Party and VOX, which if you will allow me to characterise it, is gibberish, because on one hand we know that they are in favour of the war in Iran, but on the other hand it seems that they are against us helping a European country that has suffered the consequences of the war they are in favour of.

So that is real gibberish. They will have to clarify exactly why they support the war in Iran and why they are against a request made to us by a European country, in this case Cyprus, for the Government of Spain to go in solidarity on a defensive mission in the face of the consequences of this war, which we consider to be absolutely illegal.

Therefore, transparency and accountability. I have said it on many occasions: I am the president of the Government of Spain in the history of democracy who has appeared the most times in the Lower House of Parliament. I will do it again.

And I insist, we have the peace of mind, one, of complying with international legality. Two, that our position is perfectly understandable. It is well understood, applauded and supported by a large majority of Spanish citizens. And thirdly, that logically we comply with international legality, we comply with national legality and, above all, we comply with solidarity with a European country that is the victim of a war that they did not want and which, of course, Spain does not want either.

1. - [Ruben Martins, Publico] Good afternoon, President Sánchez. Good afternoon, prime minister. I am a Portuguese journalist.

President Sánchez, at the last Iberian summit it was agreed to build several bridges in Extremadura and Andalusia. None of these bridges have started to be built and NextGenerationEU funds will be lost.

At the Figueira da Foz Summit in 2003, there was already talk of the AVE and, for the moment, we have nothing, and then in Huelva, between the Algarve and Andalusia, there have been requests for years to improve the link between Huelva and Faro. No, I don't want to be negative.

In terms of rail connections, Spain is four years away from being able to link Salamanca with Fuentes de Oñoro. We still lack a connection between Lisbon and Madrid. I tell you the same thing, these agreements seem more like an exchange of best practices, but nothing is done to make these agreements actually happen in practice, and this is a real problem for all the people. What is missing for the Spanish and Portuguese to know that something really practical is coming out of these summits?

President.- Earlier the prime minister was talking about how at the last summit we dealt with the issue of water and thanks to this cooperation in a completely different situation, because before it was a drought and now it has actually been these serious floods, thanks to the cooperation between the Portuguese and Spanish governments we have reduced extraordinarily serious risks, such as those suffered by Portugal and also by Spain during these storms that have devastated us.

It is always said at the beginning of 2026, also at the end of 2025 we start to have these storms both in Spain and Portugal.

It is true that there are some investments that need to be accelerated, that need to be speeded up, and of course you can have the commitment of the Government of Spain that we are going to do it. Among other things, because there are projects, for example, you referred to some of these rail interconnections that are linked to very important projects for Spain and Portugal, such as, for example, the 2030 World Cup.

Therefore, I would like to say that it is true, we have to speed up the pace, but these summits are very important for the day-to-day life of our fellow citizens.

[Carlos E. Cué, El País] - Thank you very much, prime ministers. On behalf of the Spanish journalists to the Spanish president:

Why was the United States able to use Spanish bases for operations in the Middle East in the past and not now? What has changed? And if this is definitive, if this is NOT forever, if the United States will never be able to use them as long as there is no international legal support.

You have left the issue of reprisals unanswered, president. If you have any information that these retaliatory measures that Trump is talking about are real, these trade retaliatory measures. If something is going to happen, and what information you have.

And then, Prime Minister Montenegro was talking about what they are going to do in Portugal. Oil is already at 90 dollars, what is Spain going to do? What kind of measures are you considering for a new social shield, to recover the social shield that was voted down in Congress, in the face of this war and in the face of possible inflation?

And, we are in Huelva, when is the state tribute to the victims of the Adamuz accident going to take place? If you can give any specifics.

And for both of us, from the Summit, the issue of climate change, which we have not talked about. Why is it that an agreement on climate change can be made between a progressive president and a conservative prime minister here, yet in Europe it is becoming increasingly difficult? We are going backwards in many conservative sectors. In Spain, too. Agreements are now pending in Extremadura. There have been agreements in the Valencian Community that go in the opposite direction. Why? Why is it possible here and not possible in Europe and Spain?

President.- I understand that they are also those of the other journalists who are following this summit.

With regard to the first, on what has or has not happened, I insist, I return to the consistency, to the coherence of the Government of Spain when we have faced and defined our position in the face of the different crises, the different wars - unfortunately we have to speak in the plural - that are ravaging the world.

We have always defended international law, we have always sided with the victim and therefore we have always defended human rights, be it in Ukraine, be it in Gaza, be it also in the violation of the United Nations Charter that we believe took place with the intervention in Venezuela. And now, unfortunately, in this war of consequences that we are beginning to glimpse.

Earlier a question was asked about the rising cost of living, but not only from an economic or material point of view for our homes, for our businesses, for our economy, but also from the point of view of the suffering and potential consequences both in terms of security and in terms of migration movements that we have seen in other wars that have been very disastrous for the Middle East and which have been highly unstable for European societies.

And I would like to remind you again, to use this analogy, which I believe is accurate, not in terms of size, because Iran is much more, but twenty-three years ago, with the illegality of the Iraq war, which brought the consequences that it did and the hangovers from that war have lasted for a long time. If you go to Iraq today, you will realise that it has taken decades to rebuild their country and now, unfortunately, they are once again suffering the consequences of a war in a country as major as Iran, a neighbour of Iraq.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say this: the question is not whether we are in favour of the Iranian regime or not, the question is whether we are in favour of international legality and respect for human rights. We in Spain, of course, reject the Iranian regime. This Government is a Government with deep feminist convictions. We have always expressed our opposition to the Iranian regime's repression of its people, particularly women and girls. But that does not mean that the international order has to be violated. Not to consult, not even internally, which will be the dynamic of each country and its democracies, but at least the United Nations Security Council, as was done in other wars.

Therefore, a consistent position, a coherent position by the Government of Spain.

Two. On retaliation or non-retaliation on the threats to which you have referred. I believe that in the appearance I made at Moncloa Palace the day before yesterday I was clear. I said that, in effect, there are the principles, there are the values and there is the position of the Government of Spain with respect to international law. And that is above all other considerations. So, absolute peace of mind and, in any case, a commitment by the Government of Spain that thanks not only to political will, but also to the good economic times that Spain is experiencing, we have the capacity, we have the financial margin to be able to implement compensation measures.

Three. On the measures we can take. Well, I believe that this is a Government that, if it has demonstrated anything, Carlos, you know it, you know it, public opinion knows it, it is a proven anti-crisis Government. And here is some data that I have also taken the liberty of bringing here because I sensed that it might be a question that you might ask. During the pandemic, the Government of Spain mobilised 117 billion euros, for example, in ERTEs, in direct aid to the self-employed, in guarantees for small and medium-sized companies. During the inflationary crisis resulting from Putin's war in Ukraine, we mobilised 45 billion euros. In this latest climate emergency that we have experienced as a result of the storms, as I said before, we have approved a Royal Decree-Law pending validation, which I hope will not have any problems in the Parliament, for 7 billion euros.

Therefore, of course, this Government is watching, monitoring the situation, and is in permanent contact with the social partners to find out how the economic consequences of this war are evolving.

But I think it is important that citizens are aware that what is happening in their pockets or may happen has nothing to do with the decisions taken by the Government of Spain, but with a war that is illegal and that is going to bring a lot of pain, suffering and instability to a region that is already very unstable and that, consequently, we are going to have to pay between all of us to defend and compensate the victims of this conflict, which, I insist, we do not know exactly what the objective is, nor do we know exactly how long it is going to last.

With regard to the State tribute, Carlos, you know that the Government of Spain has expressed our willingness to hold it as soon as the families of the victims and also the victims of the accident consider it appropriate. Therefore, we are absolutely ready to hold it when the families and victims are ready and willing to be able to hold this important and necessary State tribute.

And finally, two reflections. The first is one on the question you asked and the prime minister answered on climate change. I agree. We are not talking about left or right, we are not talking about conservatism or progressivism, we are talking about science. Science. That is why I spoke earlier about flatearthism. I have talked about nothing else, except standing with the science, heeding the warnings that science has been communicating to the public and to governments for many years about the consequences of the climate emergency.

And also, from an economic point of view, to be aware that if one does not mitigate the effects of this climate emergency one ends up paying a high cost. We have paid for it in lives, we are paying for it in budgetary terms. I insist, 7 billion euros in just these few weeks of storms that we have had to face throughout the Iberian Peninsula. I am talking in this particular case about the question of Spain and the regions that have been affected by these storms.

And that is what we are talking about, science. And I agree with the prime minister when he says that mitigating and adapting to the climate emergency, i.e. following the path of sustainability, is one of the main levers of our competitiveness.

I have some data here that I believe is very relevant, to highlight thanks to the transition, to the energy transformation that we are undergoing in Spain. For example, Spain today has electricity that is three times cheaper than in France, six times cheaper than in Germany and seven times cheaper than in Italy. That is a competitive factor and that is no accident. It is the result of a Government and a sustained commitment over time to renewable energy, which is much more competitive and cheaper than, for example, nuclear energy or, of course, fossil fuels.

I now come to my last point, which is, of course, to congratulate you because this 8 March is Women's Day. So congratulations to the women of Spain and, of course, of Europe, of Portugal, of the world. And with a special remembrance of the women of Iran who are suffering the double suffering of persecution and repression by a terrible regime, but also, unfortunately, the bombings of an illegal war that will hopefully end sooner rather than later.

Thank you very much.

(Transcript edited by the State Secretariat for Communication)

Original speech in Spanish

Non official translation