Overview

• Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and UNESCO Director‑General Audrey Azoulay opened the summit at Barcelona’s CCIB, welcoming delegations from more than 100 countries.
• Organizers are presenting the first World Report on the State of Culture to frame deliberations and guide a shared agenda for the coming years.
• Spain’s culture minister Ernest Urtasun sets priorities to defend multilateralism and human rights, rethink cultural policy for the climate crisis, and address risks linked to AI and new conflicts.
• The United States is absent following its announcement this summer that it will leave UNESCO starting in December 2026.
• The meeting serves as Azoulay’s final major cultural event of her eight‑year tenure, with a successor due to be appointed in November.