The Diplomat
Madrid will host the next Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government on November 4 and 5, 2026, according to sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who spoke to The Diplomat and later confirmed by the Minister himself, José Manuel Albares.
The Minister confirmed this date during a meeting in New York attended by the foreign ministers of the Ibero-American countries, marking the start of the Ibero-American Conference, which will include more than 25 ministerial meetings, forums, and gatherings in different cities across Spain.
Over two days, the leaders of the 22 countries that make up the Ibero-American Community will address some of the main shared challenges: sustainable growth, digitalization, energy security, and educational and cultural cooperation.
Albares also announced that Spain will propose the creation of an Ibero-American Disaster Response Fund, advance the recognition of university degrees, and strengthen relations with other countries and regions such as India and the English-speaking Caribbean, giving a new role to observer countries in the Ibero-American Conference.
In addition, Spain will work with its Ibero-American partners to approve the Four-Year Plan for Ibero-American Cooperation (PACCI 2026-2030) with a more strategic and inclusive approach.
At this meeting in New York, a Declaration on Haiti was approved, expressing support for the proposals of UN Secretary-General António Guterres regarding the United Nations Mission in the Caribbean country. Albares pledged to formally convey this declaration, on behalf of the Ibero-American Community, to the UN Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council. The mandate of the Ibero-American Secretary-General, Chilean Andrés Allamand, was also renewed.
The Ibero-American Summits, held biannually since 1991, are the region’s main political forum. Spain and Portugal participate alongside Latin American countries with the aim of strengthening a common space based on language, culture, and a shared development agenda. In its more than thirty years of existence, the mechanism has established itself as a platform for political consultation and multilateral cooperation.
To date, Spain has hosted three Ibero-American Summits. Madrid hosted the second in July 1992, right in the middle of the fifth centenary of the Discovery of America. Salamanca held the fifteenth in October 2005, and Cádiz hosted the twenty-second in November 2012, coinciding with the bicentennial of the 1812 Constitution, drafted in that city.
The Ibero-American Summits are part of a political coordination mechanism that integrates the 22 Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries of Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, including Portugal, Andorra, and Spain. At these summits, heads of state and government debate and work on an agenda based on common interests.
The previous summit, held in Cuenca, Ecuador, in mid-November 2024, was notable, above all, for the absence of all the region’s presidents, with the exception of the host, Ecuadorian Daniel Noboa. As heads of state, only the European leaders attended: Felipe VI of Spain, the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the Head of Government of Andorra, Xavier Espot. The King was accompanied by José Manuel Albares, who participated as the highest representative of the government after President Pedro Sánchez canceled his attendance to closely monitor the DANA crisis in Valencia.