The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has expressed this Wednesday to the ambassador of the United States, Benjamín León, his "willingness" to reinforce cooperation with Washington "in areas of mutual interest" in a context in which Spain finds itself under the scrutiny of the US President, Donald Trump, for its refusal to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP.
The interview with the diplomatic representative, who landed in Madrid last February and who weeks ago had complained about not having been received by Sánchez yet, takes place less than a month before the NATO summit in Ankara. There, the head of the Executive and Trump will meet for the first time after the US president's criticisms regarding the level of Spanish military spending and Spain's refusal to authorize the use of the Rota and Morón bases by the United States for its military operation against Iran.
According to the brief information provided by the Government, the meeting served for the president to analyze with León, a businessman with family roots in Spain, "the bilateral relationship and the main international challenges," without offering further details about the content of the conversation.
During the meeting at the Moncloa Palace, Sánchez once again underlined "his willingness to continue working to strengthen transatlantic ties and deepen cooperation in areas of mutual interest," as indicated by the Executive in a brief note. The United States Embassy in Madrid, for its part, has not yet issued any public statement about the meeting.
In an informative breakfast held on May 27, the ambassador himself had considered Trump's "frustration" with Spain regarding defense spending to be understandable and had insisted that, as the President of the United States has emphasized, the "differences" are confined to governments and do not affect the deep and historical relationship between the two societies.
In that same forum, León reproached not having been received yet by Sánchez since his arrival in the capital. "If the president has not received me, I don't think he is inviting the president," he replied when asked about the possibility of a future visit by Trump to Spain.
However, the presence of a foreign ambassador on the Prime Minister's agenda is not common and only occurs on very rare occasions. León arrived in Madrid on February 16 and, less than a day later, was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares.
As a sign of the relevance that the Executive attaches to the link with the United States, the ambassador was included in the presentation of credentials to King Felipe VI, scheduled for February 18, despite the fact that there were already six other ambassadors scheduled to comply with this protocolary procedure and that, in general, diplomats usually wait several weeks before being able to formalize this step that enables them to fully represent their countries in Spain.