The new National Plan for Cultural Action Abroad advocates “dialogue and collaboration” with the US

Eduardo González The Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, presented the National Plan for Cultural Action Abroad 2026-2028 this Friday, a document that aims, among other objectives, to strengthen the presence of Spanish culture in “four strategic regions”: Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Maghreb and West Africa, and North America and the rest of Europe. The plan will help Spanish cultural industries “to open markets and gain a greater international presence,” Sánchez stated during the event, held at the Cervantes Institute headquarters in Madrid, which also included speeches by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun. According to Sánchez, Spain is currently the world's fourth-largest power in culture and heritage and the second most popular tourist destination on the planet, with one in four visitors drawn specifically by our culture. Furthermore, culture “is an industry that generates employment, projects international reputation, and builds collective self-esteem.” These figures demonstrate the difference between “countries that leave their mark through the power they accumulate” and countries, like Spain, that “achieve something much more difficult: becoming part of the world's emotional imagination.” Strategic regions Sánchez also emphasized that one of the plan's objectives is “to concentrate efforts in strategic regions where Spain has enormous potential for cultural and economic growth, such as Asia, Latin America, and the United States,” and to strengthen Spanish “as a global language of culture, knowledge, and influence, alongside our co-official languages.” Specifically, the plan establishes, in line with Spain's Foreign Action Strategy, four “areas of focus in which the promotion of Spanish culture will be intensified.” One of these regions is Asia, where Spain will attempt to “leave a deeper mark on the Asia-Pacific region through a new strategy. Special attention will be paid to countries such as China, India, Japan, and Korea, without neglecting the consolidation of our presence in the rest of Southeast Asia, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia.” Within this context, the Spain-India Dual Year 2026 and the official opening, also this year, of the Cervantes Institute in Seoul, operational from 2025, will take place. Another strategic region is Latin America and the Caribbean, “a constant in Spain’s identity and foreign policy,” where, over the next three years, efforts will be made to “redouble this effort and strengthen the Ibero-American Cultural Space based on shared values and converging interests.” In the third area of focus, the Maghreb and West Africa, the objective is to intensify relations with the countries of the Mediterranean basin in the Maghreb and the Middle East, “with a firm commitment to peace and stability in our southern neighborhood,” an objective in which “intercultural exchange will be an essential tool, with a special focus on West Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.” Finally, the fourth strategic region is the rest of Europe and North America, where “Spain intends to strengthen bilateral relations” with “European partners and the rest of the continent” and will continue working to maintain “a close relationship” with the United States “based on dialogue and collaboration.” In this regard, the plan notes that July 4, 2026, marks the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence, an event that will highlight “the significant aid Spain provided to the American colonies during their war of independence” and will help “strengthen ties between both nations, recognizing their shared past and envisioning a future of collaboration.” Furthermore, the Cervantes Institute will develop the Observatory of Spanish and Hispanic Cultures in the US, in partnership with Harvard University. Albares and Urtasun During the event, Albares emphasized that culture is what most defines Spanish identity and cited as examples “great ambassadors of Spain” through culture, such as Rosalía, ‘Los Javis’ (Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi), and Almodóvar. He also asserted that Spain is one of the few countries with a global language and culture that allows it to pursue a global and humanist foreign policy. For his part, Urtasun warned that, faced with the rise of authoritarian models that challenge multilateralism, human rights, and democratic coexistence itself, culture allows diverse societies to coexist, engage in dialogue, and recognize one another. Therefore, he added, this Plan is not only a strategy for promoting Spain abroad, but also a commitment to strengthening the international presence of a democratic, diverse, open Spain, committed to culture as a tool for coexistence and dialogue.

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