The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, took advantage of his participation yesterday in Seville with his Portuguese counterpart, João Gomes Cravinho, in the commemorative acts of the first circumnavigation to call for “a Europe with an Iberian vision in the face of the energy challenge”.
“Portugal and Spain have collaborated and given a lesson on how to value a shared memory, and we have shown what we can do together,” said Albares during a joint press conference with Gomes Cravinho at the Real Alcázar of Seville on the occasion of the commemoration of the V Centenary of the first circumnavigation of the world by Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano.
This “tribute to the common past is also a tribute to the present and the future that we are building together” in these “convulsive and complex times in which Europe needs ideas and leadership,” he continued. “Europe needs ideas, leadership, and Spain and Portugal contribute from the first moment as in the field of energy. A Europe with an Iberian vision is key to the energy challenge,” he added.
For this reason, he assured, Spain will take advantage of its next Presidency of the EU, in the second half of 2023, to bring this “Iberian vision”. “We have given a lesson on how to value a shared memory, we have shown what we can do together, the Spanish and Portuguese,” he said. For this reason, he assured, “we are going to impregnate Europe with our Ibero-American vocation”, because “Spain and Portugal have a double soul: European and Ibero-American”.
For his part, the Portuguese minister affirmed that the expedition of Magellan and Elcano was “the inaugural moment of globalization, a fundamental moment in the history of mankind and essential for understanding the world today” and stressed that the project developed by the two countries to commemorate the circumnavigation, in the midst of the pandemic, has demonstrated the common spirit of this “Iberian reality” and that Spain and Portugal are in a position to “offer the world today as much as we offered in the past”.
The two ministers attended yesterday in the Alcázar of Seville the presentation of the book Spain and Portugal in the globalization, fruit of the collaboration between the Real Instituto Elcano and the Centro de Estudos Internacionais do Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. The two ministers also signed a joint declaration on the occasion of the celebration of the V Centenary of the First Round the World Voyage.
Afterwards, Albares participated, together with the Minister of Finance and Public Function, María Jesús Montero, in the presentation of the commemorative coin issued by the National Mint on the occasion of the V Centenary of the First Round the World Race.
In the afternoon, King Philip VI presided in the Alcázar of Seville the last meeting of the Plenary of the National Commission for the commemoration of the V centenary of the expedition of the first round the world trip, in which an account was given of the official activities carried out during these four years. The purpose of the National Commission is the preparation, programming, organization, coordination and execution of the activities for the celebration of this event. The National Commission meets at least three times a year in plenary session. The King also attended the institutional commemorative act of the V Centenary, with a tribute organized by the Navy to Elcano at the monument to the Basque sailor at the Glorieta de los Marineros Voluntarios.
