Madrid inaugurates 30th Ibero-American Summit, only 10 heads among 22-nation bloc
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia inaugurated the 30th Ibero-American Summit at Madrid's Teatro Real on Wednesday evening. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez greeted the arriving delegations from the 22-member community.
Despite the ceremonial welcome, only 10 countries were represented by their heads of state or government at the summit.
Argentina's Javier Milei, Chile's José Antonio Kast and Guatemala's Bernardo Arévalo were among the seven Latin American presidents present.
Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Mexico's Claudia Sheinbaum and Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodríguez stayed away. Their absence highlighted political divisions ahead of Spain's general election on 29 November.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres and European Council President António Costa joined the gathering, while Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Madrid for separate talks.
Thursday's programme includes the plenary session and the official photograph at the Royal Collections Gallery, as Spain mourns the 69 victims of last week's train disaster.
