Eduardo González
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, received yesterday at the Moncloa Complex the president of Cape Verde, José María Pereira Neves, who is on a working visit to Spain and will be received next Tuesday by King Felipe VI.
As reported by Moncloa, Sánchez and Neves addressed the strengthening of bilateral relations in areas such as development cooperation and the blue economy, especially water treatment and sustainable fishing. “We have addressed the strengthening of our bilateral relations and investment opportunities in areas such as desalination and the fishing industry,” declared the President of the Government through the X social network.
They also shared “the firm commitment of both Governments to the fight against climate change, an issue of vital importance for an island country like Cape Verde, with special attention to drought and the promotion of renewable energies.” The two leaders also talked about the challenges that West Africa is facing due to instability in the Sahel.
Neves has been in Spain since yesterday for a working visit on the occasion of his participation in the United Nations Conference for the Ocean Decade, which will take place between April 9 and 12 in Barcelona and which he will attend as a Patron of the Alliance for the Ocean Decade. The Conference will bring together the Ocean Decade community and partners to celebrate achievements and set joint priorities for the future.
In his first visit to Spain since he took office in November 2021, the Cape Verdean president will be received on Tuesday, April 9, by King Felipe VI at the Zarzuela Palace. The meeting will be attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, who that same day will meet with the Minister of Foreign Business, Cooperation and Regional Integration of the African country, Rui Alberto de Figueiredo Soares, at the ministerial headquarters of the Viana Palace.
Neves already visited Spain in March 2007, then as prime minister. His predecessor in the Presidency, Jorge Carlos Fonseca, visited Spain on two occasions: in November 2015, when he was received by the then mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, and met with the Cape Verdean community; and in March 2017, when he met with the Cape Verdean community of Galicia.
As reported by the Presidency of Cape Verde, Neves’ agenda in Spain will include “an intense and multifaceted agenda, aimed at strengthening cooperation relations at a bilateral and multilateral level, also paying special attention to the Cape Verdean communities settled in the regions of Madrid, Galicia, León and Barcelona.” Separately, Neves visited the UN Tourism headquarters yesterday, where he held a meeting with its secretary general, Zurab Pololikashvili.
Neves will meet today with the Cape Verdean community of Madrid and tomorrow, Sunday, he will travel to Galicia to meet with the Cape Verdean community of Burela (which is mainly dedicated to fishing). On Monday he will be received by the Cape Verdean communities of Ponferrada and Bembibre, in Bierzo, and on Wednesday, after passing through Madrid again for the audience with the King, he will travel to Barcelona, where he will meet with the director general of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay will talk with the Cape Verdean community of Catalonia and will participate in the aforementioned UN Conference.
The Cape Verdean community in Spain is made up of more than 4,600 people, according to the latest data from January 2022. The largest group is in Madrid, with more than 1,600 people, followed by Galicia, with almost 800. In the province of León There are more than 500 Cape Verdeans.
