Madrid opened the 30th Ibero-American Summit on Wednesday, November 4, as King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia welcomed representatives of the 22-country community at the Teatro Real. The two-day gathering is aimed at strengthening cooperation between Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries in Europe and Latin America.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez greeted arriving delegations. UN Secretary-General António Guterres and European Council President António Costa also attended the opening, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Madrid for separate talks.
The Spanish royal household confirmed the inauguration and the summit’s dates, November 4 and 5. Thursday’s programme includes a plenary session and an official photograph at the Royal Collections Gallery.
Cooperation initiatives on the agenda
Work on artificial intelligence was among the issues prepared ahead of the leaders’ meeting. Spain’s Ministry for Digital Transformation said ministers agreed on November 3 to put forward an Ibero-American AI alliance. Participation is voluntary, with cooperation envisaged on data, regional-language models and computing capacity.
The summit brings together countries from both sides of the Atlantic for political coordination. Its opening ceremony launched the Madrid meeting; the plenary was scheduled for the following day.
Clayton Ward