Press conference given by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, together with the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on the occasion of the 1st Spain-Brazil Summit

SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SPAIN, PEDRO SÁNCHEZ

Good morning everyone. First of all, I would like to thank the media for attending this joint press conference with President Lula da Silva.

I would also like to thank the delegations of both the Brazilian and Spanish governments for the success of this first bilateral summit between Spain and Brazil, and to welcome, of course, President Lula da Silva, a leading figure, a friend of Spain and of Europe, and a personal friend.

For more than two decades, through his words and deeds, I believe that President Lula da Silva has been demonstrating that it is possible to govern for the social majority; that inequality can be reduced and rights for men and women in Brazil can be expanded; and all this without sacrificing economic growth. Moreover, improving the present should not jeopardise the future of coming generations.

Today, from Spain, we not only share this journey, but we want to undertake it together and help to broaden it from both sides of the Atlantic.

As you know, today we are meeting at a bilateral summit that I would describe as historic, because it is the first bilateral summit to be held between the two governments in the city of Barcelona, and the first that Spain has held with a Latin American country. And I also want to point out that it is no coincidence that it is with Brazil. Because Brazil is one of the world's great democracies. It is a key economic power in the international system. It is a key player in the BRICS group. It is an economic, political and driving force for the whole of Latin America and the Caribbean.

First of all, I think it is appropriate - and if the media will allow me - I would like to highlight the achievements of this summit at the bilateral level, because we have, in fact, just witnessed the signing of various memoranda of understanding, of agreements.

I believe this will culminate in a political declaration that reflects the depth of our relationship and its clear commitment to the future. We have signed fifteen agreements which, I would emphasise, are crucial in the 21st century, ranging from critical minerals to information technologies, communication and satellite connections.

We are also making progress on key social commitments, to which both governments are fully committed. One example is the fight against gender violence; and then, the promotion of racial equality; the social and solidarity economy; culture and sustainability; specific action plans in science, innovation, social protection, digital transformation... In short, trade and investment ties between our countries, which are extraordinarily strong and which we aim to strengthen in the coming years.

The relationship between Spain and Brazil goes far beyond the strictly bilateral level, and that is the second point I would like to make in my opening remarks.

Our countries are called upon to act as driving forces that bring the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean closer together - two regions that share values, fundamental aspirations, and that have much to gain from working together. Especially now, because an increasingly fragmented world calls for greater unity between our continents. Continents that look to one another because they know they share principles, values and a very similar outlook on the world.

That is why we wholeheartedly support - and I would even say with joy - the fact that, at long last, after 25 years, dear President, the European Union and Mercosur have signed this important free trade agreement, which will create the largest free trade area on the planet, encompassing more than 700 million people and accounting for 25% of global GDP.

And I believe this is highly significant from an economic and commercial point of view, of course, but also undoubtedly from a political perspective, because in the face of the fragmentation, confrontation and wars we are seeing in the world, from Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean - particularly Mercosur - what we are sending out is a completely different message: one of cooperation, openness, mutual trust and shared prosperity.

And for these same reasons, Spain also attaches the utmost importance to the forthcoming Ibero-American Summit, which we will be hosting in Madrid in November.

I have spoken about Spain and Brazil in both bilateral and regional contexts. What is more, both countries, both governments, share the same worldview, which is anchored in the defence of democracy, international cooperation, respect for international law, especially human rights, and peace.

And that is the third message I would like to share with the public following this press conference. Because our governments, just as our societies think and feel, want to redouble our efforts to work towards peace and a strengthened - and therefore renewed - multilateralism.

Whilst others are reopening old wounds, what we want to do is, quite simply, heal them and move on to what really matters. And the key is to curb and reduce inequality within our societies and between nations. And also to address the major challenges facing humanity - notably the climate emergency - and to ensure that technological development on our planet is guided by a humanistic and responsible approach

We know, therefore, that defending peace is not merely the absence of war. It is the prerequisite that makes everything else possible: prosperity, social justice, freedom, the defence of democracy and its consolidation. And today, it is clear that this peace and the values that underpin it are under attack by this reactionary wave, from authoritarianism and from disinformation. Evil forces that threaten the strength of our democratic institutions.

And so, tomorrow we will be holding the fourth meeting of the initiative "In Defence of Democracy", which our countries and our governments jointly launched in 2024 within the United Nations.

President Lula, today we have not only signed agreements: we have done something much more important, and that is, in a world that is uncertain, fragmented and sometimes seems to be moving backwards, we have reaffirmed our determination to ensure that our societies move forward together.

And when two countries with our history, with our values and with our ambition walk hand in hand and in the same direction, it is not only those countries that move forward: something far greater moves forward, namely hope for the rest of the world.

That is the purpose of this summit and that is the commitment we are making today.

Q.- [Murilo Salviano, TV Globo] Good afternoon, ministers, excellent president. I am a journalist for Globo. Tomorrow, the two countries will take part in a forum for the defence of democracy. In terms of social rights, Spain is at the forefront of a powerful movement that started in Europe more than 16 years. In fact, the European bloc has already held numerous meetings on the matter. But I would like to know what has been decided and what is going to happen next. Why have measures been taken to prevent certain young people from accessing even social networks?

President - Thank you very much for your question. In line with President Lula, I would say three things. The first is that social networks today are indeed a failed state. There are no rules. The rules that apply in the physical world do not apply in the digital world, and this is a source of concern not only for parents, but even for young people themselves.

Therefore, if we start from this diagnosis - that we are facing a failure, a failed state, without rules - what is clear is that we must take action at the multilateral, regional and national levels. And what's more, we have to do it quickly because we are running late.

Secondly, the University of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, and UNICEF jointly conducted a study - the largest of its kind in the world - of 100,000 young people on their use of digital devices and social networks. And frankly, the data are worrying, if not outright alarming.

To name just one aspect: access to pornographic, and therefore violent, content by our young people. Today, in Spain, the average age is just over 11 years old. 11 years. And it is not something that young people, minors, seek out, but rather it is these platforms which, as the president rightly said earlier regarding gambling, find their way onto the mobile phones of our young people and give them access to violent and pornographic content that objectifies women and which, consequently, undermines everything we are doing in the offline world to combat gender-based violence, to defend real and effective equality between men and women, in this failed state which, unfortunately, social networks has become today. We therefore need to act, and as I said before, we need to act with urgency.

What are we doing at national level? Well, at national level, not only is this important bill to ban the use of social networks by under-16s currently going through parliament, but we have also launched a debate involving both the government and experts, as well as the Lower House of Parliament and the parliamentary groups, on amending the Criminal Code so that if these technological and digital platforms, these social networks, do not remove this content - which consists of fake news and violent messages containing violent content - from their social media once it has been detected; if they do not remove it, if there is no algorithmic transparency, and if what they do is use algorithms to spread messages, fake news and misinformation that provoke confrontation, polarise opinion and amplify that violent message, then they must clearly face criminal liability.

This can be done at the national level, but it is not enough. We must also scale to the regional level, and we need to take it to the multilateral level as well. Just yesterday, 14 of the 27 member states of the EU, led by Spain in conjunction with the European Commission, held a video conference specifically to establish standards for regulating young Europeans' access to social media. And this is something we also have to do at the multilateral level.

That is why the debate we are going to have tomorrow at this Summit for Democracy is so important, because we are not only talking about democratic principles being undermined, but also about the impact this is having on people's health - particularly the mental health - of many young people around the world, and in Spain too.

He is not the first, nor the second, nor, sadly, will he be the last of the young people we have seen - and I am sure that, unfortunately, this is also the case in Brazil and Spain - who have taken their own lives as a result of exposure to this type of violent content and the relentless bullying they face on social networks.

That is why I have always argued - and I mean this in the best sense of the word - that technology is political; it is an instrument of power. And that is precisely what we are seeing from the tech oligarchs: the exploitation of society's naivety regarding this supposed dream of using social media for political purposes, in order to turn it into an instrument of power for their own benefit.

And I believe that this requires governments - who, after all, are ultimately responsible for our societies - to safeguard public health, democracy and, of course, social cohesion within our societies.

Q.- [Joan Faus, Reuters] Hello, good morning. I have a question for the two presidents, please.

Regarding tomorrow's summit, this will be the third edition of the "In Defence of Democracy" summits. I wanted to ask you, apart from holding this joint meeting, what specific and lasting actions you hope to take tomorrow, if you are looking for an alternative to an international order led by President Trump, and why you think the left has been losing ground around the world in recent years.

And then, I would like to ask President Sánchez, please, for his views on the agreement reached between the PP and Vox in Extremadura, whether the central government believes that any of the agreed measures are appropriate, and whether the government will take action to put a stop to them.

And this agreement also comes at a time when the central government is promoting the regularisation of migrants. Extremadura is going in the opposite direction. I would like to ask you which option you thinks the majority of Spaniards prefer. Thank you.

President of the Government of Spain: Well, thank you very much for your questions. The thing is, it would take us the whole afternoon to answer them all, because there are some issues that go beyond what can be covered in a press conference.

Let's see, tomorrow. I believe tomorrow's meeting, the third launched jointly by the Brazilian and Spanish governments since 2024 in defence of democracy, is a very important one. And, fortunately, over the past two years we have seen an increase in the number of government representatives taking part.

But I would also like to emphasise that we are not just talking about the involvement of government bodies, because there are also academic, social and trade union contributions surrounding this issue; there were even contributions as recently as last September at the United Nations General Assembly - I was discussing this earlier with President Lula - from more than twenty Nobel Prize winners who backed this initiative last September 2025 at the United Nations General Assembly.

We will therefore be focusing on the following points: firstly, to discuss in detail the response we gave to your colleague from Globo, specifically regarding social media, about how to tackle this reactionary wave we are seeing on social networks, about how to bring order to social media.

Secondly, the necessary reform of the multilateral system. We uphold international law, we advocate for the renewal of the multilateral order.

There are some who, whether actively or passively, either leave it for dead or work to undermine the foundations of the multilateral order. We believe that the multilateral order has many positive aspects, such as human rights and respect for territorial integrity and national sovereignty, but that it needs to be improved and renewed.

The Government of Spain is fully committed to reform and renewal, and I would also dare to say that so are the Government of Brazil and many others we are going to meet tomorrow.

And last, a key issue: inequality. Because if there is one social challenge that all nations - and indeed the planet as a whole - share, it is how to tackle the problem of inequality, both within our societies and between nations.

And this, for example, has much to do with two initiatives that both the Government of Brazil and the Government of Spain are spearheading in various multilateral fora. One: the taxing of billionaires - an international tax to ensure that these financial resources actually go to the countries that need them to bring about change and achieve greater prosperity.

And two: to put forward the idea that, just as a panel of scientific experts has been established to tackle the climate emergency at the multilateral level within the United Nations, the same should be done with regard to inequality. If inequality is one of the main challenges facing humanity, we need to establish a framework in which not only government representatives but also academics and scientists can participate and contribute their knowledge and expertise to address this challenge effectively.

This is an initiative that was put forward on behalf of many Nobel Prize winners by none other than Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize winner for economics, which we have include in the debate we are going to hold tomorrow, and which I hope will become a reality at the next United Nations General Assembly in September 2026.

I am aware that there are many countries that are also very keen on, and very supportive of, having this kind of panel, because it is indeed a debate we have to address and we have to tackle with the necessary resources and capabilities.

Q.- [Luís Corivini, TV Gazeta] Good evening, Mr. President, Minister. I would like to ask about the agreements that have been signed, especially the one concerning critical minerals. What exactly have Spain and Brazil agreed? And I would like to highlight the threats, for example, that President Trump has made against Greenland and other countries precisely because of these kinds of minerals. What is Brazil's position in this regard?

President. Well, to pick up on President Lula's point, I would say that at both European and Spanish levels we are developing what we call "open strategic autonomy". And, within this framework, the EU has adopted and approved a strategy on critical minerals and raw materials for the various transitions in which Spain is also at the forefront, such as, for example, the energy transition. What's more, this was reflected just a few months ago in a Council of Ministers agreement, under which we will be promoting the development of critical raw materials in our country. And, accordingly, what we are doing is taking this issue to a new level of cooperation, not only with other European countries but also with other continents, such as Brazil.

Earlier I forgot to answer the question about the agreement between the right and the far right in Extremadura. I was reading the agreement this morning. And I remembered First Vice-President Carlos Cuerpo. Because Carlos Cuerpo, as you know, is from Extremadura, and when he was very young he had to emigrate, like many others from there. In fact, when you talk to parents of large families in Extremadura, what concerns them most is that Extremadurans leave their homeland and do not live in Extremadura.

What I mean by this is that Extremadura, if it has been anything historically, is a land - sometimes very much to its regret - of migrants, of migrants to other parts of Spain where they have contributed to development, for example here in Catalonia, and also beyond Spain's borders. And I am convinced that these parents, when they saw their sons and daughters and watched them leave, what they wanted was for the host regions and countries of these Extremaduran men and women to grant them citizenship rights. And that is precisely what this pact calls into question. Citizenship rights, and thereby betraying the history of Extremadura itself, which is a land of emigrants.

Secondly, I understand, and indeed I think it is entirely reasonable that a regional government, in this case, would want its people to live in Extremadura. But for that you will have to create the conditions and opportunities in Extremadura. And it turns out that when one reads the content of the agreement between the right and the far right in this particular region of Spain, what they are doing is holding back and opposing the development of renewable energy - which is synonymous with reindustrialisation - and of very important projects that are currently under way, and which, unfortunately, are being put at risk by the climate dogmatism and climate denialism of two political parties that have decided to take a stand against an energy supply that saves money for the industries that want to set up in Extremadura; and that saves money for Extremaduran households, especially at this particularly difficult time with the war in Iran and its implications for the price of gas, electricity and oil.

It therefore curtails present and future opportunities for the people of Extremadura by turning Spain's primary energy supply - its main raw material when it comes to energy - namely renewable energy, into a bone of contention.

And thirdly, under that ever-abstract term "deregulation" - of course, when you hear "deregulation", you might even think that it was deregulation that brought about the financial crisis of 2008. But behind deregulation lies a curtailment of the rights of the citizens of Extremadura. Because rights are not only provided by public administrations, be it in the form of health care, care for the dependent, or education, in the case of the regional governments, but also by civil society and NGOs, which reach places where public authorities do not. And, under the guise of 'deregulation', what we are seeing is a clear intention to dismantle much of that community structure that does not toe the line, because it upholds different values and principles that I believe are closer to the hearts of the people of Extremadura than what the right-wing and far-right government in Extremadura stands for.

Well, you can write what you want on paper. But I do say to the right and the far right - as we have done on many other occasions in recent years, when they have tried, for example, to weaken the right of women to voluntarily terminate their pregnancies or when they have tried to weaken the structures of regional social dialogue - that you can write what you want, but if you enshrine this in regional legislation, then the Government of Spain will of course use the full force of the rule of law to defend the rights and freedoms of the people of Extremadura, who have the total and absolute guarantee that this is what this government will do: defend their rights and freedoms, defend the laws democratically approved by a parliamentary majority in the General Courts, and of course, defend a different model of society.

That is why I remembered the First Vice-President for Economy and Business, because he is someone who left Extremadura with his family because of the lack of opportunities in Extremadura, who had to study outside Spain due to the lack of opportunities in Spain, and who today is none other than the person who is in charge of the economic policy of our country.

I believe that this is the true reflection, or rather, the most accurate snapshot, of the Extremadura of today, and certainly not what we saw yesterday in that document, which amounts to a standstill, a sudden deadlock, a step backwards for Extremadura's development.

And apologies, Chairman, for the lengthy reply.

Q.- [Esther Redondo, La Sexta] Good afternoon. First of all, I would like to direct a couple of questions at the two leaders.

The first is whether you discussed Venezuela in the bilateral meeting you held, and whether you would be in favour of setting a deadline for holding presidential elections there.

And the second question concerns some statements made by the President of the Community of Madrid, who says that President Sánchez is meeting here in Barcelona with countries involved in poverty and drug trafficking. If President Lula has something to say, then I invite him to do so.

And then some direct questions for the President of the Government. I want to know, President, why no one from the Government has met with María Corina Machado, who is in Madrid today.

I would also like to ask if you agree with the statements made by your vice-president Yolanda Díaz, who claims that Junts has a racist and classist agenda, and if you believe that these statements, which have so angered Junts, could further complicate the parliamentary term.

And last, President, since we are in Catalonia, our colleagues here would like us to remind you that President Illa promised that the devolution of income tax would be implemented in 2028. Our colleagues here are asking whether this objective will be met. Thank you.

President. Thank you very much, Esther. If you will allow me, President, I'll speak now and you can wrap up the press conference.

I'll try to keep my answers as brief as possible.

On Venezuela, I would like to say that, of course, we have offered Mrs María Corina Machado the opportunity to meet with me, with the President of the Government of Spain, and that unfortunately we have not yet had the chance to hold that meeting because she felt it was not the right time.

But, in any case, the doors of Moncloa Palace are open to meet with all opposition leaders, as I have done with Edmundo González, and with Leopoldo López; in short, with all those leaders of the Venezuelan opposition who are, moreover, living among us thanks to a humanitarian policy, to a policy of recognising the rights of refugees for people who, unfortunately, have been persecuted there.

Well, you know what the Government of Spain's position is. The future of Venezuelans must be decided democratically by Venezuelans, without foreign interference or meddling.

And I would be delighted to meet Mrs Machado whenever she has the opportunity and is willing to do so.

With regard to Mrs Ayuso's statements, I can see that both she and Mr Abascal - who, by the way, has had some very kind words for me - are very keen to take an active part in this progressive summit.

The thing is, they always do it in their own way - pushing and shoving, hurling insults, showing disrespect - not just towards people who have been democratically elected, but even towards entire countries, entire nations.

But I am not going to give them that pleasure; I am not going to give them the satisfaction of falling for that provocation.

What I do know is that I am going to take this opportunity - whilst President Lula is here, along with the other leaders who are joining us at this important summit in Barcelona this weekend - to apologise to them on behalf of Spanish society. Because what is clear is that Spanish society, which is open, welcoming and respectful, does not feel represented by these insults, in this case from the president of the Community of Madrid.

On the question of Vice-President Yolanda Díaz, yesterday I had a meeting with all the groups linked to this regularisation process that we have started - the Minister for Inclusion, Elma, is here - and which will be completed in 76 days' time.

And I have to say that I am very happy that the government has taken this decision, because we are making Spain a better country. What any society, anybody involved in politics, must always seek to do is extend rights and recognise rights for those who do not have them.

And those rights, by the way, are not against anyone. On the contrary, they are to the benefit of all of Spanish society.

So, to sum up, I believe we are setting an example to the world, and setting an example of solidarity and openness towards Europe. And this regularisation process will certainly lead to positive outcomes - a much better country, no doubt.

And, in this context, I would point out that the people I have heard making racist - and, if I may say so, xenophobic - remarks, linking migration with insecurity, have been none other than the leader of the PP, Mr Feijóo, and the leader of the far-right party, VOX, Mr Abascal.

And I believe there is also clear evidence, a good example, of this political project which in no way represents the Spanish citizenry - or at least the majority of Spaniards - such as those we saw just yesterday in Extremadura.

And on the legislative agreements of the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Government of Spain, we are currently negotiating and working on them.

(Transcript edited by the State Secretariat for Communication)