Spanish President Kicks Off Two-Day Cuba Visit

By Jorge Coromina

The president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, arrived on Thursday in the Cuban capital to begin an official two-day visit. The Spanish president was received at Terminal 1 of the José Martí International Airport in Havana by Rogelio Sierra, vice minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba.

Also present at the airport to welcome Mr. Sánchez were Cuba’s ambassador to Spain, Gustavo Machín, and his Spanish counterpart on the island, Juan Fernández Trigo.

Later on, Mr. Pedro Sánchez and his entourage moved on to the Plaza de la Revolución, where they paid homage to the National Hero of Cuba, José Martí, with a wreath placed at the base of the memorial monument.

He was then received at the Palace of the Revolution by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, where he received military honors and both delegations exchanged greetings.

The Spanish president and his Cuban counterpart witnessed, in the halls of the Government Palace in Havana, the signing of several collaboration agreements, one of the essential pieces of his two-day visit to the island. Since taking over the presidency of Spain, Pedro Sánchez had repeatedly expressed his intention to put a new spin on the bilateral relations between the two nations.

On Friday, the Spanish president will see through a busy schedule that will start with a working breakfast with the business delegation at the Iberostar Grand Packard Hotel in the Cuban capital.

Later, in the hotel lounges, Mr. Pedro Sánchez will open the Business Forum only to later make a grand tour of the historic center of Old Havana and visit the Palace of the General Captains, where he will preside over the act of temporary transfer of the "Chair of Maceo".

In the afternoon, he will unveil an art exhibit entitled "Archi Paper" and make an appearance before the press at the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Havana.

His last official act during this Cuba visit will be a meeting with the Spanish community in the gardens of the residence of the Spanish ambassador to Cuba.