The head of Government, Pedro Sánchez, will receive this Monday at the Palacio de la Moncloa the head of State of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, although the campaign event in which both leaders were going to take part will finally not be held and which was also scheduled for that same day.
On Saturday, the PSOE decided to suspend the rally planned for November 16 in Madrid due to a voice problem of the Brazilian leader. However, the party stressed that Lula’s institutional schedule at La Moncloa would remain unchanged for that day. This expectation has been ratified by the Brazilian president himself after his participation in the Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
"Each international mission opens opportunities to strengthen our relations and reaffirm Brazil’s place in the world," Lula said in a publication on social media after the summit, in which he announced his departure "heading to Madrid."
This will be Lula’s first official visit to Spain since he won the Brazilian presidential elections on October 25, against Flávio Bolsonaro. During the bilateral meeting, both leaders will address the status of relations between Spain and Brazil, as well as coordination on initiatives with global reach such as Democracia Siempre or the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty.
Lula’s trip takes place shortly after the XXX Ibero-American Summit, held in Madrid, which the Brazilian head of state did not attend due to accumulated fatigue after the electoral campaign in his country. Da Silva achieved an unexpected victory in the second round of the presidential elections against Flavio Bolsonaro and Sánchez has held up the Brazilian case as an example in his campaign events to try to mobilize the socialist electorate, despite the polls predicting an unfavorable outcome.