Reception of migrants, more destroyers in Rota and the contamination of Palomares, keys to Sánchez's visit to the White House
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will meet this Friday with Joe Biden. It will be the first time that the head of the Spanish Executive has officially visited the White House to continue sealing his alliance with the US president, with whom the meeting will be marked by different agreements: the reception in Spain of Latin American migrants, the deployment of two more US destroyers at the Rota base and the more than probable removal of contaminated land in Palomares by the United States. They will also talk about the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union and various common challenges, such as the war in Ukraine, the climate emergency or the drought.
In Moncloa they give maximum importance to the visit of Sánchez, which will also coincide with the start of the campaign for the municipal and regional elections. This is why it will be express. The president is expected to travel late this Thursday and return to be at a rally in Seville on Saturday with the mayor of Seville, Antonio Muñoz, and the general secretary of the PSOE-A, Juan Espadas. Getting the photo in the oval office has been almost an obsession for Sánchez, who closes a circle with the visit. From the presidential palace they even boasted of a 'mini' paseíllo, although over the years their relationship has grown closer. In fact, President Biden visited Moncloa in June of last year, on the days that Madrid hosted the NATO summit.
In that appointment, Ukraine was the main topic. During Sánchez's visit to Washington, it will also be. In this sense, both have a very close position. In addition, the head of the Executive will be able to talk about his latest international appointments in this regard, since he has visited Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, and shared with Volodimir Zelenski, the Ukrainian president, the day that marked one year after the Russian invasion. In terms of Defense, both arrive with their homework done, since Spain and the United States signed the agreement days ago to install two more destroyers at the Rota base. This signature develops the pact that the two reached in Biden's last visit to Madrid.
It is not the only gesture that Spain has had with the North Americans. In addition to awarding the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabel la Católica to Nancy Pelosi -a prominent leader of the Democratic Party and former Speaker of the House of Representatives-, Spain also adhered to the agreement to welcome Latin American migrants, like Canada, through of legal channels. This was one of the measures announced by the US president to implement as of May 11, when Title 42 expires.
That article allowed more than 2.5 million expulsions of migrants since it came into force in 2020 under the pretext of the pandemic during the term of former President Donald Trump. Specifically, the United States, Spain and Canada will receive migrants who will be sent from processing centers that Washington will create in countries in the region such as Colombia and Guatemala to manage the applications of people who wish to migrate.. Of course, Moncloa has not yet given exact numbers.
What sources close to the president do see close is the signature that would allow the United States to take the land contaminated with plutonium from the Palomares nuclear accident in Almería, which occurred in 1966.. Madrid and Washington already signed a political agreement in 2015 to carry it out and now an agreement is expected to unblock the operation. Likewise, Sánchez will propose the elimination of tariffs on black olives, something that harms Spanish and European companies.