The Government authorizes the new Friendship Agreement with Panama, updating the 1953 treaty

The Diplomat The Council of Ministers authorized the signing of the new General Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the Kingdom of Spain and the Republic of Panama this Tuesday, updating the previous treaty of 1953. According to the Government, the objective of the Treaty is “to update the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation signed on March 18, 1953, to adapt it to the current reality and to highlight the deepening of bilateral relations in a democratic context, based on close ties of friendship, cooperation, and mutual respect, as well as their historical, cultural, and linguistic links.” The text, the Council of Ministers continued, includes “the principles upon which these relations are based: democratic values, human rights, and a rules-based international order, fully aligned with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.” The Agreement also includes other objectives, such as “combating poverty and modernizing productive structures, promoting the integration of the peoples of Ibero-America, combating transnational organized crime, and protecting the environment.” In October 2025, the Spanish ambassador to Panama, Guzmán Palacios, announced during a reception for Spain's National Day that the governments of the two countries were negotiating a new “general treaty of friendship” to replace the 1953 treaty, “which was limited exclusively to resolving disputes peacefully between the two states,” according to the EFE news agency. Relations between Panama and Spain date back to the colonial era, which ended on November 28, 1821, when Panama separated from Spain as part of Gran Colombia. Panama gained independence from Colombia on November 3, 1903, and Spain immediately recognized the new state, establishing formal diplomatic relations in May 1904. On March 18, 1953, the two countries signed the basis of the Treaty of Friendship between the Republic of Panama and the Kingdom of Spain. The text was ratified on June 23, 1954.

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