Spain signs deals with Brazil as Sanchez builds anti-Trump bloc

Spain and Brazil signed a flurry of agreements at Pedro Sanchez and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s first bilateral summit, as the Spanish leader seeks to build an alliance to counter US President Donald Trump.“The relationship between Spain and Brazil goes far beyond the strictly bilateral,” Sanchez told reporters after signing 15 deals covering areas including critical minerals, telecommunications and artificial intelligence.“Peace and the values that sustain it are being attacked by a reactionary wave,” he said, adding that “while others open wounds, what we want is to close and heal them”.The meeting with Brazil marked the start of two days of talks in Barcelona, where Sanchez is hosting about a dozen heads of state and government in a bid to position the Spanish city as a hub of resistance to Trump and a revival of the political left.Leaders from Mexico, South Africa, Colombia and Uruguay are also attending events and are scheduled to speak on Saturday.Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (centre left) and Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (centre right) attend a summit in Barcelona on Friday. Photo: APParticipants share opposition to the war in Iran and to what they see as interventionist US foreign policy outside international institutions they say have proven ineffective.“I fully understand when you say ‘No to war,’” Lula said alongside Sanchez. “The UN is very weakened today. The nations that created the UN do not respect it,” he said. “Why have democratic institutions stopped working?”Sanchez is seeking to enlist these countries in “the necessary reform of the multilateral system”, including changes to the UN to give more voice to Global South countries such as Brazil, he said.The Spanish premier has emerged as one of Trump’s most outspoken critics in the European Union.Among the first leaders to oppose the intervention in Iran, which he described as “illegal”, Sanchez barred the use of Spanish airspace and the two US airbases in the country for operations supporting the strikes. Trump responded by threatening to cut off all trade agreements with Spain.The rift adds to tensions over the Spanish government’s refusal to raise defence spending to 5 per cent of gross domestic product, a target the US pushed on Nato allies at last year’s summit. Spain was the only country not to commit to the goal, saying it would not exceed 2.1 per cent.The Spanish prime minister had already outlined his vision for a multilateral system in Beijing earlier this week.Further ReadingSpeaking at Tsinghua University on Monday, he said that “the West must give up part of its representation quotas in favour of global stability and the trust of countries in the South.”A day later, Chinese President Xi Jinping echoed those remarks.Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez poses for a selfie as he arrives for the Global Progressive Mobilisation forum’s official dinner in Barcelona on Friday. Photo: AFPSpain and China should “cooperate closely, oppose the world’s retrogression to the law of the jungle, and jointly safeguard genuine multilateralism”, he said.Sanchez is applying the same logic with China as with leaders gathered in Barcelona: strengthening the EU’s ties with economic and strategic partners beyond a US that is increasingly seen as a less reliable ally.Areas for cooperation include climate change, critical minerals, AI and free-trade agreements. Lula and Sanchez welcomed the signing this year – after two decades of negotiations – of the Mercosur agreement between the EU and Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.In January, the EU also clinched a free-trade agreement with India, and the European Commission is negotiating to approve or update others, a strategy that contrasts with the tariff war pursued by Trump.“Progressives are becoming fewer,” Lula said. “Democracy needs international spokespersons,” but “our flock is growing because the world needs hope”.