The King receives the President of Senegal on his second official visit to Spain

Eduardo González King Felipe VI received the President of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, at the Royal Palace in Madrid this Wednesday on the occasion of his official visit to Spain at the invitation of the Monarch. Those participating in the meeting included, on the Spanish side, the Head of the Royal Household, Camilo Villarino; the Spanish Ambassador to Senegal, María Dolores Ríos Peset; the Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs, Diego Martínez Belío; the Diplomatic Advisor to the Royal Household, Carmen Castiella; and the Director General for Africa, Ximena Bartolomé. Those participating on the Senegalese side included the Minister of African Integration, Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad, Cheikh Niang; the Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation, Abdourahmane Sarr; and the Secretary of State for Senegalese Abroad, Amadou Chérif Diouf. The meeting included the president's diplomatic advisor, Sonar Ngom, and the Senegalese ambassador to Spain, Ibrahim Al Khalil Seck. Following the meeting, the King and Queen hosted a luncheon in honor of the President of Senegal, which was attended by officials and representatives from both delegations. President Faye's visit began on Tuesday with a meeting with the Senegalese community residing in Spain and continued on Wednesday with his attendance at a business event organized by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, the State Secretariat for Trade through ICEX (Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade), and the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE). At the event, Spanish investors were informed about the opportunities offered by Senegal. The Senegalese president also met with representatives of the GB Foods group and the RIU hotel chain. In addition, the Senegalese president will be received this Thursday, March 26, by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, at the Moncloa Palace complex. Also, during this visit, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and his Senegalese counterpart, Cheikh Niang, signed the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) 2026-2030 this past Monday, March 23, in Madrid. The new CPF replaces the previous one for the 2019-2023 period and includes an initial financial allocation of €180 million, €40 million more than was disbursed in the previous period. Alongside traditional areas of focus such as agriculture, water, and sanitation, the new framework will also address education and technical and vocational training. Senegal is a priority country for development cooperation, as reflected in the Spain-Africa Strategy 2025-2028 and the 2023 Development Cooperation Law. This is the second official visit of the President of Senegal to Spain, following his visit on June 30, 2025, to attend the 4th United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville. The previous visit by a Senegalese head of state to Spain took place in December 2014, when President Macky Sall traveled to Madrid for working meetings with King Felipe VI and the then Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy. Queen Letizia, for her part, made her traditional Cooperation Trip to Senegal in 2017, from December 11 to 14. Subsequently, in December 2021, the Queen traveled to Dakar to inaugurate the new headquarters of the Cervantes Institute. Pedro Sánchez has traveled to Senegal twice. The first meeting took place in April 2021 and served to reaffirm, before President Sall, their commitment to working towards “regular and orderly migration” and to combating “clandestine migration networks.” The second meeting was held at the end of August 2024 and included the adoption of a joint declaration with Faye to strengthen bilateral cooperation. Enviar comentarios

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