Madrid brings together the Ibero-American leaders in the middle of the pre-campaign for 29N in an attempt to revitalize the Ibero-American Summit

The XXX Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government will bring together representatives of the 22 member countries in Madrid on November 4 and 5, with Felipe VI as host and Pedro Sánchez less than four weeks before the general elections of 29N. Spain hoped that the event would serve to recover the participation of the Ibero-American presidents, increasingly scarce in the latest editions. However, the event has finally fallen far short of what Spain desired. 

The leaders will debate artificial intelligence, cooperation in the face of natural disasters and social policies, among other matters, in a summit that will coincide with the political consequences of the railway accident in Urda (Toledo) and that will feature the presence of Javier Milei, who has been at odds with Sánchez for months. The Teatro Real, the Palacio Real and the Galería de las Colecciones Reales will host the main institutional events.

What the Ibero-American Summit is and why it is held in Madrid

The Ibero-American summits began to be held in 1991, when the leaders of 19 American countries, Spain and Portugal met in Guadalajara (Mexico) to open a permanent channel of political dialogue and cooperation. Andorra later joined, until completing the current 22 members of the Ibero-American Community, whose governments meet every two years.

The agreements require the consensus of all participants and are not legally binding, so each government retains the ability to decide how it applies the commitments it has assumed. Between one edition and the next, the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) coordinates the cooperation programs and supervises the development of the approved initiatives.

Madrid was chosen as the venue for the thirtieth summit during the Cuenca (Ecuador) meeting in 2024, in which Spain was also entrusted with exercising the Pro Tempore Secretariat. It will be the fourth time that our country has organized these meetings, after Madrid in 1992, Salamanca in 2005 and Cádiz in 2012.

The event is being held under the slogan “Ibero-America. Together we build our Community. Together we project it toward the future and toward the world”.

Artificial intelligence, natural disasters and social rights: the agreements on the table

Technological transformation will occupy a prominent part of the conversations, especially through the work of the Alianza Digital Iberoamericana, through which governments seek to expand cooperation in artificial intelligence, digital rights and the protection of minors on the internet. These issues also take center stage at the Foro Digital Iberoamericano, organized on November 3 as a prelude to the summit.

Along with the technological challenges, the delegations will examine mechanisms to improve the shared response to extreme natural phenomena. The Red Iberoamericana de Reducción del Riesgo de Desastres aims to facilitate the exchange of information and experiences between administrations, as well as to promote coordination among the services responsible for prevention and emergency response.

The social aspect of the agenda includes the Carta Iberoamericana de Cuidados y Apoyos, conceived to guide public policies directed at people who need assistance and those who are in charge of providing it. The governments will also study measures to facilitate the recognition of university degrees, one of the main difficulties for academic and professional mobility among Ibero-American countries.

The work is completed with environmental cooperation initiatives and the preparation of the corresponding programs for the 2027-2030 period. The approval of the documents will depend on consensus among the delegations, so the definitive scope of the commitments will not be known until the conclusion of the sessions.

Sánchez participates in the summit less than a month before the general elections

Pedro Sánchez will receive the Ibero-American leaders less than four weeks before the general elections of November 29 and while the opposition is demanding political accountability from the Government for the railway accident of October 28 in Urda (Toledo), which has opened a new controversy over the safety of the Spanish railway network.

The criticism is directed especially against the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, whose resignation is being demanded by various parties without waiting for the investigations into the disaster to conclude. The actions of those responsible for the infrastructure and the decisions adopted before the collision are at the center of much of the reproach toward the Executive.

Among those attending will be Javier Milei, who maintains a public confrontation with Sánchez and has repeatedly expressed his support for Santiago Abascal and Isabel Díaz Ayuso. During his visit to Spain on October 20, the Argentine president again lashed out at the head of government with personal insults.

The two will coincide at the institutional events, although their respective governments have not announced any bilateral meeting. His presence in Madrid comes after several episodes of diplomatic tension between Spain and Argentina, originating from the Argentine leader's statements against Sánchez and his political circle.

The summit will also not count on Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Claudia Sheinbaum, presidents of Brazil and Mexico, respectively, the two most populous countries in the Ibero-American community and two of the governments with which Sánchez has maintained the greatest political affinity. Brazil will send the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, while Mexico will be represented by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Velasco.

Which Ibero-American presidents and representatives are attending Madrid

The attendance of the leaders will be one of the main indicators for assessing the political outcome of the meeting. Despite Spain's diplomatic efforts during its temporary presidency, only ten of the 22 countries will be represented at the highest level, according to the data announced by the Government.

The figure considerably exceeds that of the summit held in Cuenca in 2024, which was attended by only four heads of State and Government. However, it still falls far short of the 17 leaders who participated in Santo Domingo in 2023 and of other stages in which the summits regularly brought together a much larger share of Ibero-American leaders.

Madrid thus recovers part of the convening power lost in the latest editions, although the absences of important presidents show that the forum still has difficulties attracting the main leaders. The agreements reached by the delegations will also be decisive in assessing the summit's results, beyond the number of leaders present.

Among the Heads of State and Government who will travel to Madrid are Javier Milei (Argentina), Rodrigo Paz (Bolivia), José Antonio Kast (Chile), Laura Fernández (Costa Rica), Bernardo Arévalo (Guatemala), Nasry Asfura (Honduras) and Luis Abinader (Dominican Republic). Portugal will be represented by its prime minister, Luís Montenegro, and Andorra by its Head of Government, Xavier Espot.

The full list of delegations, ordered by institutional rank, is as follows:

Note: Ecuador announced the participation of Roberto Kury, although the Spanish information initially attributed the head of its delegation to the Vice Presidency. Nicaragua has not publicly identified which of its co-foreign ministers it will send.

Paraguay will be represented by its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rubén Ramírez Lezcano, after President Santiago Peña canceled on November 2 his trip to Madrid. The Paraguayan Presidency confirmed that the foreign minister would head the delegation.

The agenda of the Ibero-American Summit: from the Teatro Real to the Palacio Real

The preparatory meetings and the first institutional meetings will begin on Tuesday, November 3, when Felipe VI will receive the presidents of Chile, Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica. The day also includes the Ibero-American Digital Forum and the XVI Ibero-American Business Meeting, two events linked to the summit's work.

On Wednesday, November 4, the Teatro Real will host the official opening, while Las Ventas will be the venue for the closing of the business meeting. In the evening, Felipe VI will offer a dinner at the Palacio Real to the participating leaders and delegations.

The main session will be held on Thursday, November 5 in the Galería de las Colecciones Reales, where the representatives of the member countries will examine the documents prepared during the ministerial and technical meetings. That same day, a meeting of the king with the secretary general of the United Nations, António Guterres, is scheduled.

The agenda of some delegations will continue on Friday, November 6, with events such as the awarding of the Premio Fórum Europa 2026 and a bilateral meeting of Felipe VI with the Bolivian president, Rodrigo Paz.

To ensure the safety of the attendees and the official venues, the authorities have prepared a deployment of more than 3,200 agents, accompanied by special protection measures during the delegations' transfers.