Albares embarks on a tour of three Gulf countries to promote solutions to the crisis in the Middle East

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, is embarking on a tour that will take him to three key Gulf countries, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in a new effort to promote solutions to the Middle East crisis.

With this new tour, Albares takes up the commitment expressed during his recent visit to Lebanon and Iraq to visit the region more frequently to meet with the main players in the region with a view to seeking ways out of the Middle East crisis. The first stop will be in Qatar, a key country in the ongoing mediation to end the crisis in Gaza. In the Qatari capital, he will hold a meeting with the Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Abdelrahman Al Zani, among other activities.

The minister will discuss how the two countries, Spain and Qatar, can work together to bring peace to the area. Albares also plans to take an interest in the latest contacts between the Qatari authorities and the parties and to offer Spain's help in establishing a new dynamic of peace in the region. The minister's agenda will also include meetings with representatives of Spanish companies in Qatar and with the Qatar Businesswomen's Association.

Spanish-Qatari cooperation in the promotion of Spanish culture and language will be addressed in a meeting with students and teachers of Spanish in that country, as well as in a visit to the Museum of Islamic Art, where the minister plans to make a brief tour of the section of art objects related to Spain.

Spanish proposals

The push for solutions to promote peace in the Middle East, through the implementation of the two-state solution, is also the main reason for his visit to Riyadh on the second day of this Gulf tour. There he will hold a meeting with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud, with whom he will also discuss the situation in the region and to whom he will convey Spain's proposals for bringing peace to the region. The Saudi minister chairs the Contact Group of the League of Arab States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and in this capacity participated in the Union for the Mediterranean Regional Forum on 27 November in Barcelona.

In Saudi Arabia, Albares will discuss the next steps to be taken within the Euro-Arab proposal to advance the effective establishment of the Palestinian state, within the framework of the two-state solution advocated by Spain. In Riyadh, Albares will also continue to promote the growing bilateral economic agenda, in meetings with ministers of the Saudi Government's economic area, as well as with representatives of Spanish companies active in the country.

Contacts with civil society and cultural and tourism exchanges are also part of the Minister's programme in Saudi Arabia, a country undergoing an accelerated process of modernisation in the framework of the "Vision 2030", which is due to culminate in the World Expo in Riyadh this year.

Final leg

The final leg of this intense Gulf tour will take Albares to Abu Dhabi. In the capital of the United Arab Emirates, the Spanish minister will hold a meeting with his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, with whom he will also be able to compare the reception given to Spanish proposals.

The Spanish-Emirati economic agenda will include, among other things, a visit to the state-owned renewable energy company Masdar and a meeting with the company's CEO, Mohamed Jamil Al Ramahi, who is based in Madrid and covers Spain, North Africa, Europe and Latin America.

Non official translation