Overview
- The XXX Ibero‑American Summit began in Madrid on Wednesday with an inaugural session at the Teatro Real featuring speeches by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and SEGIB secretary Andrés Allamand and a ceremony presided over by King Felipe VI.
- Only ten of the 22 Ibero‑American heads of state or government are attending in person, with most countries represented instead by vice‑presidents or foreign ministers.
- Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum will not attend because of recent electoral fatigue and planned travel to the APEC meeting in China, and Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez is absent amid reports of domestic political turmoil.
- High‑profile attendees include outgoing U.N. Secretary‑General António Guterres and European Council President António Costa, and right‑leaning regional leaders such as Javier Milei, Nasry Asfura and José Antonio Kast are present.
- Spain has organized parallel business forums and pushed a public‑private agenda focused on trade facilitation, digital transformation and sustainable investment to try to convert shared language and history into concrete projects and opportunities.