China Power | Diplomacy | East Asia

Spain’s China Bridge: Diplomacy or Dependency?

Securing a national win at the expense of a coherent EU strategy would be a self-defeating gamble for Spain.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez meets with Chinese President during a visit to Beijing, China, Apr. 11, 2025.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s recent visit to Beijing unfolded against an extraordinary geopolitical background. Navigating a precarious terrain of trade spats and shifting alliances, Sanchez aimed to anchor a more resilient bilateral cooperation framework with China, a partner essential to his country’s economic future.

Spain might have sat at the negotiation table as David before Goliath, yet the results of the meeting suggest that it punched above its weight. The Spanish delegation secured 19 bilateral agreements, covering a wish list of investment, education, agrifood, and technology. The commitments range from expanding Spanish pistachio and dried fig exports to framing Spain as the European Union’s strategic bridgehead for Chinese clean tech capital. Significantly, the two nations institutionalized their relationship through a Permanent Strategic Dialogue, upgrading Spain to a high-level diplomatic exchange previously reserved for the bigger players.

Sanchez’s visit was the latest in a wave of high-level European pilgrimages to Beijing. In an era of fragmenting alliances, everyone is racing to secure preferential trade and investment terms into China’s indispensable market. Even German Chancellor Friedrich Merz – one of Europe’s most Atlanticist voices – made a point of dropping by earlier this year. Bilateralism, it seems, is the new diplomatic fashion for European countries, who have been trying to salvage what they can from the wreckage of the  2025 China-EU Summit. The doomed meeting was abruptly cut short at Beijing’s request following a tense standoff over trade rebalancing. It laid bare a relationship in freefall that national leaders are now desperate to stabilize on their own terms. 

In contrast with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s confrontational rhetoric, Sanchez went to Beijing armed with a more nuanced diplomacy. During his speech at Tsinghua University on April 13, he articulated a vision where global relations are no longer seen through a zero sum lens – an error that he said turns leaders into “prisoners of the past” and “limits the possibilities the future offers.” 

A unique convergence of circumstances dealt the Spanish leader a particularly strong hand. Under his watch, Spain has managed to outperform most of the Eurozone in economic terms, sustaining robust GDP growth while keeping inflation on a tight leash. Of course, the view from the ground is less sparkling. A crushing housing crisis and a mountain of public debt remain important structural vulnerabilities. Yet, for strategic investors, these are secondary to the headline of stability in a volatile Europe. 

The economic tailwind allowed Sanchez to pitch the “Green Dream,” an industrial strategy designed to attract Chinese capital into Spain’s burgeoning electric vehicle and battery ecosystems. Its strategic geographic position could help the country become a key logistics hub connecting Asia to Europe, Latin America and North Africa. By slapping on a “made in Spain” label, Chinese firms could find a safe haven to bypass looming EU tariff barriers, since their goods would be produced within the single market’s borders.

Beyond economics, the Spanish prime minister also brought with him a rare surplus of geopolitical capital. His vocal opposition to the Iran war has earned him praise from political rivals, Hollywood........

© The Diplomat