Qatar and Spain established diplomatic ties in 1972, which have since witnessed notable growth.
Qatar and Spain signed a memorandum of understanding in Doha on Wednesday to launch the joint strategic dialogue, an annual meeting between officials from both countries to boost their bilateral relations.
The signing took place between Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Doha was the last stop of Sanchez’s regional tour that included Amman and Riyadh.
“Pleased to welcome you Dr Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister of Spain, and to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the Strategic Dialogue between our countries. We look forward to enhancing cooperation and understanding to advance our relations & serve our aspirations at all levels,” Sheikh Mohammed said on X.
Qatar shares similar strategic dialogue memoranda with other countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Turkiye, and Italy among others.
Sanchez also met Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani at his office in Lusail Palace. The meeting dealt with the two countries’ cooperation relations and the latest developments in Gaza.
Qatar and Spain established diplomatic ties in 1972, which have since witnessed notable growth.
In 2022, Sheikh Tamim visited Spain as part of a European tour, where he announced plans to invest $5 billion in various sectors in the country.
“Based on our confidence in the strength of the Spanish economy, we decided to invest an additional $5 billion in the coming years,” Sheikh Tamim said at the time, highlighting Qatar’s position as one of the largest Arab investors in Spain.
Reuters had reported at the time that the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is investing in projects funded by the European Union’s Covid-19 recovery fund.
Spain had revealed an economic recovery plan aimed at providing more than 800,000 new jobs with the help of funds from the European recovery plan.
Qatar’s investments in Spain in 2021 exceeded $22 billion, according to figures shared by Qatar’s News Agency (QNA) at the time. The overall trade volume between the two countries surpassed $1 million in 2021.
Qatar has at least 210 Spanish companies operating in the country, including 23 wholly owned by Spain, covering tourism, real estate, and sports among others.
The largest investment for Qatar is in Iberdrola, with a share of close to 9 percent, according to QNA. The company is the largest on the Spanish Stock Exchange, with a capital of more than $80 billion, the news agency reported in 2022.
The Gulf state is also one of Spain’s most important suppliers of natural gas.
Meanwhile, the year 2022 saw the opening of the Qatar-Spain Business Forum in Madrid, aimed at enhancing bilateral trade and investment relations.
During the same year, the Qatar Chamber signed two memoranda of understanding with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and Madrid Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services. Both agreements aimed to enhance economic and commercial cooperation between both parties.
Aside from trade and economy, both countries also shared strong political ties.
In 2020, both countries held a round of political consultations, which witnessed the signing of several memoranda covering culture, youth, sports, tourism, air transport and energy security.
Then in 2021, Qatar played a vital role in evacuating Spanish citizens from Afghanistan in light of the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul. At the time, Qatar evacuated more than 80,000 Afghans and foreigners, which became known as history’s largest airlift of people.
