Spain

Mr President, Mr Secretary-General, Heads of State and Government, Ambassadors, Delegates, I speak on behalf of a country committed to the values embodied by this institution, and to an international order based on the rules and principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter. Spain is a country that believes in international accountability mechanisms, that combats impunity through the power of experience and historical memory, and that defends institutions such as the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court—both essential for peace, security, justice, and reparation for victims. It is a country that acts according to a fundamental principle: the value of consistency. This is what leads us to speak the same language in Ukraine, Gaza, and anywhere else—defending peace, human rights, and a rules-based international order. And when others waver, we respond with greater confidence in multilateralism. That same multilateral system, painstakingly built by the world from the ashes of barbarism, is now under tremendous strain. A pressure that strikes at three core aspirations essential to the progress of nations: peace, democracy, and development. Three aspirations that are unattainable in isolation, each one dependent on the others. Peace is incompatible with tyranny. And democracy, in turn, must deliver well-being and development to legitimise itself as what it truly is: the most advanced form of social and political organisation created in human history. Peace without democracy is the peace of prisons. Democracy without development and progress is the prelude to autocracy, as attested by a past rich in lessons that we must never forget. To actively work for peace—the first of these aspirations—is today not only a moral obligation, but an existential necessity. For the first time in two decades, the number of conflicts is rising. So is the number of countries involved in wars beyond their borders—reaching levels unseen since 1945. The toll in victims, the wounded, the maimed, and the displaced is mounting. And so is the economic impact of violence—up to 13% of global GDP, according to some studies. That is equivalent to all the wealth generated in a year by 180 countries combined. These numbers speak not just to a collective failure—they reveal a global ailment corroding the foundations of both the multilateral system and a rules-based international order. Principles once considered inviolable: respect for sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity. It is happening in Ukraine as we speak. Thirty-one months have passed since the start of an aggression by Putin’s Russia, not only against the Ukrainian people but against the entire international community. An aggression that must not be allowed to continue a single day longer. The recent Peace Conference on Ukraine, held in Switzerland, laid the groundwork for building a just and lasting peace, grounded in international law and the UN Charter, as advocated by President Zelensky’s Peace Formula. I urge all countries that have not yet done so to join this initiative, and to contribute to the next stage: Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction. This year, Spain will increase its humanitarian and demining funding to €14 million, and in 2025, our development cooperation will include a dedicated strand for recovery and reconstruction focused on health, energy, and water. It is also happening in Palestine, where for nearly a year we have witnessed an intolerable spiral of death and devastation, now extending to Lebanon. This represents a most serious escalation of the conflict. We unequivocally condemn the killing of innocent civilians, and I make another urgent call for de-escalation. International law and international humanitarian law must be respected. Only by ending the war in Gaza and addressing the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can we hope to resolve the wider instability in the region. What we are witnessing daily in Gaza—and now in Lebanon—challenges the very relevance of international humanitarian law, even as we mark the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions. Spain will continue to direct all its efforts toward humanitarian aid for the population, with UNRWA as a key actor on the ground. However, all this will fall short without a ceasefire. I again call for a ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and unhindered access to humanitarian assistance. In any case, the facts are clear: we cannot return to the status quo ante. The two-state solution—Israel and Palestine coexisting side by side in peace and security—is an urgent imperative. It is the only viable solution to a conflict that has endured for decades and taken countless innocent lives. Furthermore, the advisory opinion requested by this General Assembly from the International Court of Justice has established the illegality of the occupation of Palestinian territories. An occupation that must end immediately. It is time to work on the stabilisation phase, which must be led by the Palestinian Authority—a body that Spain is committed to support and strengthen. Ladies and gentlemen, Spain made the decision to recognise the State of Palestine on 28 May. It is a decision supported by the vast majority of Spanish society and aims solely to contribute to peace in the region—a long-standing aspiration. In 1949, a Spaniard, Pablo de Azcárate, served as the first representative of the UN Mediator in Palestine. His notes from that mission still move us today, filled with sorrow at the catastrophe he foresaw. Azcárate was an exile—a Spanish republican barred from returning home by a dictatorship. Perhaps for that reason, he empathised so profoundly with the suffering of that land. His legacy deserves to be honoured in this house, 75 years after those events. Before the end of this year, Spain and Palestine will hold the first Intergovernmental Meeting to deepen and broaden our bilateral relationship. I also want to highlight the significance of the recent meeting in Madrid of the Euro-Arab/Islamic Group to advance the peace process and realise the two-state solution. A peace conference with both parties and the international community is urgently needed—one now supported by more than 90 countries. Such a conference should rekindle the spirit of dialogue once seen in Madrid in the early 1990s, when Israelis and Palestinians sat at the same table to negotiate. In this complex context, I reaffirm Spain’s unconditional commitment and contribution, as demonstrated by the nearly 670 Spanish personnel deployed in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, under the command of a Spanish general. Peacekeeping missions are instrumental in many other regions, such as Western Sahara, where Spain will continue supporting the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy in pursuit of a mutually acceptable solution within the UN framework. Yet clearly, beyond peace missions, we must address the root causes of conflicts, as highlighted in the Secretary-General’s New Agenda for Peace—an initiative Spain wholeheartedly supports. In this regard, the Indo-Pacific has become a strategic centre of gravity, and we all must contribute to maintaining peace in the region and ensuring adherence to basic principles of international law, such as freedom of navigation. Spain is ready to cooperate in safeguarding stability and security in the area. While this turbulent landscape may invite despair, we can look to the European project as a source of hope. Few could have imagined how radically the geopolitical map of Europe would change in just a few decades. That is why, as a member of the European Union, Spain is fully committed to this peace agenda. In December 2020, Spain and the United Kingdom reached a bilateral understanding regarding Gibraltar in the context of the UK’s exit from the European Union. We have worked intensively since then, and now, with the new British government, we aim to ensure that this understanding lays the foundation for Gibraltar’s future relationship with the EU. We trust an agreement between the EU and the UK on Gibraltar can be reached soon. Such an agreement must fully respect the United Nations doctrine on this territory, with which Spain is fully aligned. It must also respect Spain’s legal position regarding sovereignty and jurisdiction over Gibraltar. We wish to foster the development of a prosperous socio-economic area encompassing both Gibraltar and the surrounding Campo de Gibraltar. Alongside threats to peace, the world faces a genuine risk of democratic backsliding—the second aspiration I wish to address. Rights once thought secure are now being challenged or reversed. A global reactionary agenda is gaining traction amid distrust in institutions, polarisation, and the glorification of a fabricated past as false as its slogans. Democracy is fighting for its survival—and let us be honest: it is steadily losing ground to its enemies. Democracy cannot hope to win this battle with one hand tied behind its back. For it faces ruthless opponents—purveyors of lies, disinformation, and hate—who would split societies to impose their regressive agenda. We must build a shield to protect democratic institutions from those who deliberately seek to undermine them. Proclaiming democracy’s moral superiority is no longer enough. We must acknowledge past failures and work to regenerate democracy from within—by reinforcing transparency and accountability. And by ensuring citizens experience democracy as something real, something close, something alive. Spain will promote this vision through our co-chairmanship of the Open Government Partnership, which will hold its ninth Global Summit next October in Vitoria. In such a context, the relationship between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean takes on renewed significance. These two regions must work together with a shared worldview. The situation in Venezuela following the 28 July elections is deeply concerning. I again reaffirm Spain’s unwavering commitment to democracy and human rights in Venezuela, and condemn any detention or threats against political leaders. The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected, with a fully transparent vote count. I am convinced that we need more common spaces for dialogue. For this reason, Spain supports the upcoming Ibero-American Summit in Cuenca, Ecuador, this November, and we will host the 30th Ibero-American Summit in 2026. Spain will also continue to pursue a feminist foreign policy. Out of consistency, and because—above all—feminism is about human rights. Let me say this clearly and firmly: the time is now. Both the next Secretary-General and the next President of this Assembly should be women. Spain strongly supports gender alternation in this organisation and will work to end a simply unacceptable situation. For peace and democracy to prevail, we must advance the third aspiration I mentioned at the outset: the sustainable development agenda. Democracy, like peace, is legitimised by results—by its ability to provide well-being, combat inequality in all its forms, advance social justice, and promote human dignity. But it is not only about meeting today’s material needs. It is about doing so without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. It is about our sons and daughters. It is about binding development and sustainability as an existential necessity—not merely a moral imperative. *(Continued in next message)* **(Continuation of English translation of the speech by the President of the Government of Spain at the UN General Assembly, 25 September 2024)** I will not deliver a fatalistic speech about the climate emergency. You are well aware of its consequences—for instance, the increase in migratory flows and the cost of inaction. But I refuse to succumb to the melancholy of those who consider the battle already lost. I will not. Science is the answer. A science that places human beings at the centre of its concerns. And science reminds us that there is only one alternative: eliminating fossil fuels, expanding renewable energy, and increasing energy efficiency. If we follow that roadmap, not only is there light at the end of the tunnel, but there are also enormous opportunities for development and significant improvements in global competitiveness. I speak from experience. More than half of the electricity produced in Spain last year came from renewable sources. At this point in the current year, that share already exceeds 60%. Behind those figures lies more than just clean, cheap, and accessible energy for millions of households. There are more and better jobs in emerging sectors. This is why it is so important to strengthen international development financing: to turn it into a genuine lever of prosperity for the countries that need it. Spain is a country that understands that for its 48 million citizens to aspire to a better future, we must work to ensure that the eight billion people on our planet live with dignity. We have spaces from which we can act to achieve a deep reform and modernisation of international financial institutions and multilateral development banks. But we must go further. We must make progress toward fairer and more inclusive mechanisms, address the debt problem, mobilise additional sources of finance, and ultimately guarantee greater support to those who need it most. We must implement more effective, transparent, and fair tax policies to mobilise domestic resources, including through a global minimum tax on large fortunes and the full implementation of the OECD and G20's two-pillar framework on multinational taxation as the basis for a future Framework Convention on Tax Cooperation. We will have the opportunity to advance this agenda at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, to be hosted in the city of Seville in June 2025. It will be a key moment to prove that we can adapt our multilateral system to the demands of today’s challenges. A unique opportunity to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals: to fight poverty, end hunger, eradicate AIDS, and eliminate discrimination against women and girls, among others. It is hard to believe, but even today we still hear delusional speeches that criticise such noble goals and perceive ideological impositions where there is only common sense and humanity. Discourses that portray this deeply human agenda as the fabrication of global elites. This is the madness of our times. Spain will be a voice of reason and will work to ensure that the negotiation process is transparent and inclusive, fostering consensus to achieve tangible outcomes. We will bring to the table the value of our recent experience reforming our development cooperation system, with the aim—which I announce today—of increasing our contribution to the United Nations system by at least 25% for the 2025–2027 period. In this vision, Africa holds a privileged place for Spain. And I am convinced it should for the entire international community as well. Not only because it is an essential partner in facing global challenges, but also because there are no longer any excuses. The time has come for the African continent to occupy the place it rightfully deserves. That is the spirit behind our new Strategy for Africa. It is not only about strengthening ties with countries in the region, but about embracing the reality that our prosperity, security, and progress are closely tied to the inclusive prosperity, security, and progress of the entire African continent. Ladies and gentlemen, Humanity faces enduring challenges such as those I have briefly described. But new ones are also emerging, like the expansion of Artificial Intelligence. As has happened many times in the past, the emergence of a disruptive breakthrough generates fear and mistrust. This is nothing new. The invention of writing, some said, would destroy knowledge preserved through memory. The printing press, it was claimed, would limit the depth of thought. Even electricity was seen as a silent killer in the safety of the home. Every disruption is overwhelming. What makes the difference is our capacity to harness the reins of progress. To combine technological advancement with an indispensable ethics at this great turning point that will reshape the world. Just a few days ago, we received the seven key recommendations of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence governance. We must support these recommendations and move forward with this shared effort to ensure that decisions regarding AI do not fall into the hands of a few, and that its development is conducted ethically and responsibly, for the benefit of all humanity. And against the prophets of doom, the data show that we know how to move forward. In just over half a century, global child mortality has fallen from 50% to 4%. The number of university students has doubled in only two decades. The proportion of women holding seats in parliaments has reached 27%—twice the level in 1990. And the world has doubled its installed solar capacity in four years, while fossil fuel-based energy production is rapidly declining. Let us not accept the onset of a new age of violence and war as inevitable. The future is a relatively recent conquest for humanity. The ability to look ahead, to set priorities, and to think about the long term is a privilege granted to us by modernity. Let us honour that task—looking to the horizon without fear, but with hope. Let us work toward a renewal of multilateralism that allows us to leave a future that is better than the present to our sons and daughters. Let us do so with creativity, with boldness, with hope, and with the ambition our era demands. Thank you very much.