King Felipe VI has urged the 22 countries that make up the Ibero-American Community to maintain their support for the summit system, not only because of its “positive impact” on citizens’ lives, but also because, in an international scenario moving toward a multipolar order, they constitute an “example of understanding and cooperation” and “a counterpoint to rivalries.”
This message was delivered by him to the heads of State and Government during the opening ceremony of the XXX Ibero-American Summit, held at the Teatro Real in Madrid, before the dinner that the Kings later offer in the Royal Palace to all participants.
The monarch, who has said that he “proudly recognizes himself in the mirror of Ibero-America,” has encouraged “continuing to support [it] with renewed strength” both the Ibero-American Community, founded in 1991 in Guadalajara (Mexico), and its summit system.
“Not only because of its positive impact in so many areas,” he stressed, “but also as an example of understanding and cooperation, as a counterpoint to tensions and rivalries, as living proof that political coordination processes are not hollow rhetoric, but that they result in benefit to the day-to-day lives of our citizens.”
Felipe VI has considered that the Madrid meeting is “a great opportunity” to “vindicate our community with deeds, with tangible achievements” and, at the same time, “to continue proclaiming to the world our clear and sustained commitment, as Ibero-Americans, to words, dialogue, equality, respect for norms, listening to minorities, science, entrepreneurship and innovation; our commitment to social advances that reach everyone and are for everyone”.
“So let’s make the most of it,” he asked the attendees, among whom there are ten heads of State and three vice presidents, while the rest of the countries are represented at the level of foreign ministers.
The King has encouraged “being protagonists of our future” and “continuing to chart the path that took us from Guadalajara to Madrid and, within two years, will take us” to Honduras, a country that will host for the first time an Ibero-American Summit in 2028.
That journey, he pointed out, “obliges us to keep working toward a fairer, more prosperous and more inclusive society,” to then demand that it continue “to be Ibero-America” jointly.
In his address, Felipe VI has highlighted the common elements shared by the countries on both sides of the Atlantic, from “two powerful common languages” and “a culture of inexhaustible wealth” to “our hospitable, associative and entrepreneurial spirit” and “a shared ethic, a set of principles and values, whose ultimate background was, and continues to be, respect for the dignity of the person.”
Instrument of unity and dialogue
Along these lines, he praised “the intuition” of the leaders who drove the Ibero-American Community of Nations to “turn all that body of knowledge” into “an instrument of unity and development based on dialogue, cooperation and solidarity,” according to the Guadalajara declaration. “An instrument that, if well used, opens for us access to a space of greater freedom and prosperity for some 700 million people,” he highlighted.
The King recalled that in the 35 years that have passed “everything, or almost everything, has changed,” although, he pointed out, “even being radically different, both times were already times of accelerated change.” Back then the world was leaving behind a bipolar order and moving on, “not without uncertainty, toward what seemed to be a new world order.”
“Today we also note the imminence of a historical turning point, a change of paradigm, the progressive configuration of a multipolar order with contours that are still unclear but distinct from those the world knew starting in the year 45,” he warned.
In this context, he recognized that “no one knows with precision what the world will be like in a few years” but he emphasized that it “will continue to demand responses and solutions to challenges greater than any of our countries, considered individually.”
As he indicated, Ibero-American countries can “respond with a harmonious voice or 22 discordant voices; with a shared hope or with 22 formulas to reflect uncertainty.” “Choosing the right path will be the historical responsibility of the 22 Ibero-American nations,” he stressed.
Praises from Allamand for the King’s role
The Ibero-American general secretary, Andrés Allamand, has wanted to highlight the role of Felipe VI, who, even before his proclamation as King, “has always had a firm commitment to Ibero-America,” alluding to the fact that, since he was Prince of Asturias, he has represented Spain at the swearing-in of Ibero-American heads of government.
"Away from all shrillness, he is a leading actor in the Community because when it is necessary he smooths out rough edges, calling not only on governments but on the entire range of organizations that are our great social capital; he contributes ideas with far-reaching scope and injects the enthusiasm that must fuel every organization," he has said.
Dinner at the Royal Palace
After the opening ceremony, the Kings, accompanied by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, the heads of state present at the summit, various ministers, other figures, and the senior authorities of the State, have gone to the Royal Palace, where they have shared an official dinner.
During the toast, Felipe VI has expanded on his message and has highlighted that the essence of the summits is that their agenda is marked by "almost always, central matters in everyday life". "And it should be that way," he insisted.
"To draw close to what concerns and worries the citizenry, that is, to be useful to them, must be the priority of the Ibero-American Community of Nations: improving living conditions as the first and last reason for our cooperation, always with recognition of the dignity of every human being as a beacon that guides our action," he said.
For the King, the 700 million Ibero-Americans "deserve and justify that we hold dialogue, that we coordinate and that we reach agreements." "I raise my glass for all of them, for the men and women of our countries, and I do so on behalf of everything that unites us, which is a great deal, but which today, in particular, crystallizes in that beautiful word: Ibero-America," he concluded.
The menu served at the dinner included forest consommé; crispbread of seeds, toasted yeast, and mushrooms; a warm salad of Asturian veal; pixín with its Cantabrian essence and chard dressed with clam vinaigrette; and, for dessert, apple in the llagar.