The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, received the Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, this Tuesday at the house-museum of Nobel laureate José Saramago in Lanzarote, within the framework of the 34th Spanish-Portuguese summit to be held tomorrow on this Canary Island.
"The heritage and legacy of José Saramago will always unite Spain and Portugal," Sánchez noted on his Twitter account after visiting, along with Costa and the writer's widow, Pilar del Río, what was his home in Lanzarote.
"Welcome to Spain, dear friend," Sánchez greeted Costa, with whom he will preside over the summit between both countries tomorrow, attended by nine ministers from the Spanish side, where eleven bilateral agreements are expected to be signed.
In this first meeting, the Portuguese Prime Minister presented the President of the Government with the book 'Journey to Portugal' by José Saramago, while President Sánchez presented his counterpart with a copy of 'Lanzarote, unpublished architecture' by César Manrique.
Spain and Portugal strengthen their ties to move forward together in Europe
Energy, with the promotion of the H2Med green hydrogen submarine corridor, and cross-border development will be the focus of the Spanish-Portuguese summit held in Lanzarote under the presidency of the head of the Spanish Executive, Pedro Sánchez, and the Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Costa, who share positions on many issues on the European agenda.
Framed in the Atlantic, as a link with Latin America, the meeting will serve for Sánchez to present to Costa the objectives of the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will be held in the second semester of this year.
The good relationship between the two leaders, which was seen in the negotiation of the so-called "Iberian exception", will also serve to reflect in the joint declaration of the summit the commitment to advance in the Celorico da Beira (Portugal)-Zamora section, which is part of the H2Med.
It is expected that, together with the joint declaration, eleven agreements will be reached at the summit in areas such as culture, cross-border development, education, justice or health.
On the Spanish side, Sánchez will be accompanied by the Second Vice President, Yolanda Díaz; the Third Vice President, Teresa Ribera; and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Transport, Education, Culture, Health and Universities.
