<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, will travel to Nouakchott this coming Wednesday, accompanied by several ministers, for the first High-Level Meeting (HLM) with Mauritania.</strong></h4> On September 17, 2024, after more than 16 years of delay, the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness, and Cooperation between the Kingdom of Spain and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania came into force. It provides, among other things, for the holding of a HLM at least every two years, alternating between the two countries. The Treaty was signed in Madrid on July 24, 2008, with prior authorization from the Council of Ministers that same day. The signatories were the President of the Spanish Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, for Spain, and then-President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, for Mauritania. However, the coup d'état of August 6, 2008, which deposed President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, made it necessary to halt the treaty ratification process until the visit to Spain on March 17, 2022, by President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani—democratically elected in 2019—provided a "proper opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations at the highest political level and resume the process to advance the treaty ratification process," according to the Executive Branch in June of that same year, when it approved the submission of the Treaty to the Cortes Generales. On August 27, 2024, during his official visit to Nouakchott, Pedro Sánchez and Mohamed Ould Ghazouani agreed to strengthen relations between the two countries by holding, starting in 2025, regular bilateral summits, similar to those Spain already holds with other Maghreb countries, such as Morocco and Algeria. <h5><strong>The Treaty of Friendship</strong></h5> The treaty, which surpasses the Political Declaration (signed in 2003) and the Memorandum of Understanding on Political Consultations (signed in 2015) with a higher-ranking treaty instrument, aims to strengthen and enhance bilateral relations between the two states, both at the highest political level and between ministerial departments, the private sector, and civil society. Under the Treaty, the parties, "eager to strengthen and enhance the ties of friendship and cooperation that unite them," intend to establish "a framework for bilateral political consultations commensurate with the level of consultation and cooperation to which they aspire." To this end, the two countries commit to holding a regular High-Level Meeting between the heads of government of both countries, at least every two years, alternating between Spain and Mauritania. It also provides for a bilateral Foreign Affairs Ministerial meeting once a year and regular consultations between the State Secretaries, Secretaries General, and Directors General of the Foreign Affairs Departments of both countries. It also includes the launch of a mechanism for bilateral consultations on human rights, regular consultations between other ministerial departments and state institutions to stimulate consensus and cooperation in all areas of economic and social activity, and the promotion of contact and dialogue between parliamentary institutions, autonomous communities, municipalities, professional organizations, university, scientific, and cultural institutions, and representatives of the private sector. It also aims to enhance cooperation in a wide range of areas: economic and financial matters, cooperation in the areas of security, defense, legal aspects, consular and migration affairs, and the fight against terrorism, organized crime, and illicit drug trafficking. Finally, other aspects are included, such as Development Cooperation and the areas of culture and education. <h5><strong>Sánchez and Mauritania</strong></h5> Sánchez traveled to Mauritania twice in 2024, in February (with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen) and August. Separately, Ghazouani traveled to Madrid in December of last year to attend the presentation of Spain's new Africa Strategy for the period 2025-2028, which took place at the Moncloa Complex. During the bilateral meeting in Madrid, Pedro Sánchez thanked President Ghazouani for his country's work "to maintain stability, security, and development in the Sahel" and assured that Mauritania "plays an essential role as a partner in the region." Mauritania, located just 900 kilometers from the Canary Islands coast, maintains very close relations with Spain, traditionally focused on fishing and development cooperation, although since 2005 they have expanded to other areas, such as cooperation in the fight against irregular immigration, terrorism and organized crime, investment promotion, and cooperation in the field of defense.
