By Jorge Hevia Sierra*
Later this yr the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union will organise 23 casual ministerial conferences in 21 cities all through the nation, along with the Convention of Audio system of Parliament, the journey of the Faculty of Commissioners to Madrid, and the casual assembly of heads of state or authorities.
That assembly will probably be held in Granada, a metropolis on the foot of the Sierra Nevada and within the south of Spain and Andalusia with a historic legacy of huge vacationer curiosity. It’s the place the formidable Alhambra, the thirteenth century Nasrid palace admired all through the world, was constructed by architects from the traditional Arab world.
The European Union Movie Competition 2023 included the screening of the Spanish movie “The Builders of the Alhambra” final month in Riyadh. The movie directed by Isabel Fernández is a novel feature-length documentary that rebuilds the Nasrid society in Andalusia for the primary time. From the embassy of Spain we had been capable of really feel the particular affection of the Saudi spectators after the screening of the movie as a result of its historic significance and the reminiscence of the ties which have united Spanish and Arab cultures since historical instances.
As soon as once more, the Nasrid palace would be the protagonist when the Spanish authorities grants a particular rank to the Alhambra, since a very powerful assembly of the Spanish presidency of the EU will happen in its premises. The leaders of 44 European nations will meet in October in Granada —not solely the 27 members of the EU will attend, but in addition one other 17 members of the European Political Group who don’t belong to the bloc.
With a particular nod to our Saudi mates from the reminiscence of the Alhambra, the embassy of Spain is happy to say that Spain assumes the presidency of the EU within the second half of 2023, from July 1 to Dec. 31, at a interval of nice challenges for the member states and the EU as an entire. The Spanish presidency has established 4 priorities for its interval in workplace, as introduced by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and extra just lately the Minister of International Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Manuel Albares: to reindustrialize the EU and guarantee its open strategic autonomy; advance the inexperienced transition and the environmental adaptation; promote higher social and financial justice; and strengthen European unity in a world of uncertainty and rising geopolitical tensions.
In a geopolitical context marked by uncertainty, Europe should turn out to be an space of certainties. On this context, Spain acknowledges the strategic significance of Saudi Arabia for the EU, and welcomes the strengthening of bilateral relations — notably by way of nearer political dialogue and consultations and enhanced sectoral cooperation matching the priorities of Imaginative and prescient 2023 regarding world points such because the struggle in opposition to local weather change and environmental degradation, or coping with regional points deepening the strategic partnership with the Gulf.
The Patio de los Leones, the Nasrid Palaces, the Generalife, the towers … these are locations that the Spanish authorities needs to disclose to the European delegations, on the similar time that after once more an Arab historic cultural taste hyperlinks Spain with Saudi Arabia.
• Jorge Hevia Sierra is the Ambassador of Spain to Saudi Arabia