Juan David Latorre
The Brazilian Embassy celebrated the anniversary of the independence of the country with a massive reception at the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid, which took place last Thursday.
The Brazilian Minister of Tourism, Celso Sabino, who is visiting Spain to conclude various agreements on the tourism sector with Spanish authorities and agencies, took the floor first. The Brazilian representative highlighted the “friendly relationship” between Spain and Brazil and the tourism potential of his country.
Ambassador Orlando Leite began his speech by thanking several companies for sponsoring the event, such as Abertis, Acciona, Estrella Galícia, Iberdola, Mapfre, Redeia, Repsol, Santander and Telefónica. “It is no coincidence that these are the companies that invest the most in Brazil”, he pointed out, and emphasised that the commitment made by these companies many years ago helped to cement the relationship between the two countries and “make Spain the second largest investor in Brazil”.
Referring to the relations between the two countries, the ambassador commented on the important objectives that the two countries have in common, “the search for peace and social justice, an environmentally sustainable world and democracy”, but underlined that “it is the relations between people, between societies, that bring us closer to each other”.
Orlando Leite recalled President Lula da Silva’s visit to Spain last April, in what was his first trip to Europe after being elected president. “It is a clear demonstration, he pointed out, of the importance we attach to relations with Spain, as are the visits of so many ministers since the beginning of the Lula government.” He then highlighted the presence at the reception of Celso Sabino, the Brazilian Minister of Tourism, who was travelling to Spain for meetings with the WTO, for a meeting with his colleague Héctor Gómez, and to invite tour operators, investors and tourists to visit Brazil.
The Brazilian Ambassador ended his speech by highlighting the “good reasons” to visit his country. He detailed the upcoming events that will take place there, such as the presidency of the G20 next year; in 2025, it will host the COP in Bethlehem, to discuss the future of the Planet; and “well, Brazil has so many natural beauties that there is no one who knows them all”. To conclude the event, Orlando Leite invited the audience to see a different Amazonian forest through the lenses of Sebastião Salgado, starting on 13 September at the Centro Cultural de la Plaza Colón in Madrid.
This was followed by a raffle for free trips to the main Brazilian tourist sites and a sample of Brazil, its caipirinhas, premium cachaça, cigars, coffee, açai and pão de queijo.
The event was attended by, among others, the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas; the State Secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean and Spanish in the World, Juan Fernández Trigo; the State Secretary for Commerce, Xiana Méndez; the general director for Latin America, Enrique Yturriaga; the introducer of ambassadors, María Sebastián de Erice; the ambassador in Special Mission for the Ibero-American Summits, Carlos Abella; the general secretary of the OEI, Mariano Jabonero; the director of Casa América, Enrique Ojeda, the former Brazilian Atlético de Madrid player Luiz Pereira; and the general director of the Royal Tapestry Factory, Alejandro Klecker.
Numerous ambassadors were also present, such as those of Haiti, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Korea, Argentina, Bolivia and Cyprus, among others.
