Albares and his Icelandic counterpart sign political consultation agreement in Reykjavik

Eduardo González Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares was received this Tuesday in Reykjavik by his Icelandic counterpart, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, with whom he signed, among other agreements, a political consultation agreement. Albares' trip to Iceland began this Monday with a visit to the Keflavík base in Iceland to learn firsthand about NATO's work in the Arctic region. Spain was present at this base in August 2025 with the Stinga detachment—six F-18 fighter jets and 122 Spanish military personnel—as part of a NATO air policing operation. Furthermore, starting in July 2026, Spain will participate in NATO's Arctic Sentry mission. Spain and Iceland advocate a 360-degree vision of security, including the Arctic, and share an interest in multidimensional security that encompasses cybersecurity and the protection of critical infrastructure. Iceland, one of the few countries in the world without a standing army, has relied on NATO and the United States for its defense for decades, but the current international context has sown doubts, especially after US President Donald Trump's threats against Greenland and the Alliance itself. Tuesday began with a visit to the Icelandic Parliament and a meeting with the Chairman and members of the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Pawel Bartoszek. "The Icelandic and Spanish democracies are united by their firm defense of democracy, the rule of law, and multilateralism," Albares posted on social media. Later, Albares was received by Iceland's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, with whom he signed four cooperation agreements on political consultations, diplomat training, gender equality, and scientific cooperation. Political consultation agreements establish a formal mechanism that allows two countries to maintain a regular and structured dialogue on bilateral, regional, and international issues. Their main objective is to strengthen diplomatic relations, systematize high-level contacts, and facilitate cooperation in strategic areas such as security, the economy, science, and technology. Spain has recently signed political consultation agreements with Argentina (2024), Uruguay (2025), and Croatia (2026). Promoting Spanish Furthermore, both ministers agreed to strengthen the education cooperation agreement signed in 2023 to increase the presence of Spanish in Iceland, given the growing interest in the language in the country, driven by tourism and educational cooperation, such as the annual Spanish Festival organized by the Spanish diplomatic mission in the Icelandic capital. The visit also served to explore greater collaboration between companies from both countries in sectors such as shipbuilding, aviation security, and renewable energy. They also discussed avenues for greater cooperation within the framework of the so-called blue economy, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Spain and Iceland are aligned in multiple areas of foreign policy, such as the defense of multilateralism and international law, Arctic security, gender and LGBTI+ equality policies, and international cooperation for development,” the Ministry emphasized. “The minister’s visit to Iceland comes at a time of strengthening relations between our two countries, as demonstrated by the opening of the Icelandic Embassy in Madrid last December,” he added. In this regard, the minister reiterated his commitment to opening a Spanish Embassy in Reykjavík soon. Following his meeting with his counterpart—with whom he also participated in the colloquium “Relations between Iceland and Spain: an increasingly close collaboration” at the University of Iceland, and visited Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the site where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates separate—Albares was received by Icelandic Prime Minister Kristún Frodstadóttir. This is the third bilateral meeting between José Manuel Albares and Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir. In the first meeting, held in Madrid on March 25, 2025, Albares conveyed his satisfaction with the Icelandic government's decision to propose resuming negotiations for joining the European Union. The second meeting took place on December 1, when both ministers presided over the opening of Iceland's first embassy in Madrid after 76 years of diplomatic relations. The government in Reykjavik has called a referendum for August 29 on reopening accession negotiations with the European Union, which have been frozen for several years. Iceland is linked to the European Union through the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement, in force since 1994. In June 2011, it began negotiating its EU accession treaty, which is currently suspended. Iceland is part of the Schengen Area.

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