<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa will make his second visit to Spain this coming Monday since taking office and his first since his recent reelection.</strong></h4> Noboa will arrive in Spain from Rome after attending Pope Francis' funeral on Saturday and as part of a broad international tour of Europe and the Middle East that will conclude on May 9. According to the Ecuadorian presidential website, his agenda includes "attracting investment, high-level meetings, strengthening strategic alliances, and international cooperation in security and energy." In Spain, traveling with eight ministers, including Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld, he will be received by King Felipe VI at Zarzuela Palace. At this time, no official meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been announced. The Ecuadorian presidential website simply states that he will meet with "political authorities of that nation." <em>The Diplomat</em> has attempted to learn about Noboa's political agenda, but Embassy sources indicated that it was not yet finalized, and Moncloa has not commented. In addition, he will hold a meeting with the Ecuadorian migrant community and attend the Spain-Ecuador Business Meeting, organized in Madrid by the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), the Secretariat of State for Trade—through ICEX Spain Export and Investment—and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the Ecuadorian Embassy. This event, aimed at Spanish companies with interests or presence in Ecuador, "represents an excellent opportunity to learn firsthand about the country's economic situation and the priorities of the new government," the CEOE reported. During the event, both Noboa and the accompanying delegation "will present investment opportunities in strategic sectors such as infrastructure, energy, tourism, and services, among others," it added. After his visit to Spain, Daniel Noboa will travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Israel (where he will discuss security cooperation "to intensify the fight against terrorism and international organized crime"), the United Kingdom, and France. This is Daniel Noboa's second official visit to Spain since becoming President of Ecuador at the end of 2023. His first visit, during which he was also received by the King and Sánchez, took place in January 2024, on the occasion of the International Tourism Fair (FITUR), where Ecuador was a guest country. Noboa arrived in Madrid on that occasion days after declaring an "internal armed conflict" in his country and granting full powers to the Armed Forces to combat criminal gangs. During their bilateral meeting, Pedro Sánchez conveyed his "strongest condemnation of the violent acts of criminal groups" in Ecuador and offered "Spain's willingness" to deepen security relations, both bilaterally and within the framework of the European Union. <h5><strong>The Elections</strong></h5> In mid-April, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs congratulated Daniel Noboa on his reelection and welcomed "the peaceful conduct" of the second round of the presidential elections. "Spain reaffirms its commitment to the fraternal relations of friendship and cooperation that unite us with Ecuador, and will work with the Ecuadorian authorities to promote sustainable development, the defense of democracy, and the protection of the rights of migrants," it added. "Spain will continue to support Ecuador as a sister country in Ibero-America, both bilaterally and in regional and international forums," the statement concluded. Noboa's rival in the elections, the Correísta Luisa González Haya, has alleged electoral fraud in the presidential elections, which took place after Noboa declared a state of emergency and amid a climate of violence and polarization. However, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares stated that, based on information from the Ecuadorian National Electoral Commission and the European Union Election Observation Mission, the results were "correct" and "reliable." In contrast, Verónica Martínez, the spokesperson for Sumar (a minority party in Pedro Sánchez's coalition government), called for "maximum transparency and respect for the will of the people," while Podemos denounced electoral fraud. In a very different tone, the president of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, extended his "congratulations to President Daniel Noboa on his re-election," which represented "the support of the Ecuadorian people for stability, security, and development." Santiago Abascal, of Vox, celebrated Noboa's "landslide" victory over the "corrupt and impoverishing" Correístas.
