​Mariano Rajoy receives Barack Obama at Moncloa Palace

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

It was President Obama himself who requested the visit to our country on these dates. The Government of Spain considers this as a gesture of friendship towards Spain, for which we are grateful, whereby President Obama has met his commitment to visit our country before the end of his second mandate, as he conveyed to President of the Government Rajoy in the Oval Office during the visit the current acting President of the Government made to the United States in January 2014.

The issues to be tackled by the two leaders include the political and economic situation in the United States and in Spain, bilateral relations in the fields of defence and security, our intention to boost other areas such as trade and tourism, the situation in the European Union following the Brexit, the refugee crisis, the privileged relations Spain has with Latin America and other international issues such as the challenge of Jihadi terrorism.

The bilateral relations between Spain and the United States have historically been focused on the areas of defence and security, but the Government of Spain considers that these could be extended further. The current achievements are far from negligible. Our trade exchanges have consistently increased in recent years (in 2014, the rate of coverage stood at 103.2% and in 2015 at 88.8%). Spain's investment stock in the United States continues to grow (almost 68 billion euros in December 2014), as does tourism by US citizens to our country (in 2015, 1.22 million US tourists visited Spain, a 23% increase on the previous year). US companies have a strong presence in Spain, creating 160,000 jobs and increasingly more Spanish companies are setting up in the USA (some 700 companies which provide jobs to 75,000 people). At an educational level, the USA and Spain have a significant grant programme (Fullbright Commission), under which more than 6,000 students have benefitted.

In the last year, the number of visits by US authorities to Spain have been stepped up, and Their Majesties King Felipe and Queen Letizia made their first official trip as King and Queen of Spain to the United States of America in September 2015.