The agreements reached in Madrid must still be turned into practical results. At the close of the XXX Cumbre Iberoamericana, held on 4 and 5 November and hosted by Spain under Felipe VI’s presidency, the king pointed to the declaration adopted by the participating countries and initiatives including the Alianza Iberoamericana de Inteligencia Artificial and the Red Iberoamericana para la Reducción del Riesgo de Desastres y de Protección Civil. The summit brought together the 22 countries of the Ibero-American Community and addressed digital cooperation and disaster-risk reduction, alongside shared challenges across the region.
The declaration marked a change from the previous summit in Cuenca, Ecuador, where no final declaration was adopted. Spain’s pro tempore secretariat had worked for more than two years on the Madrid declaration and a new Ibero-American Cooperation Strategy. Consensus at the meeting was not complete: Argentina and Colombia, along with Costa Rica and Paraguay, reportedly declined to endorse a passage rejecting coercion and measures contrary to international law and the UN Charter. Argentina also distanced itself from the AI alliance and other summit understandings. The Madrid meeting’s opening drew attention to Javier Milei’s absence from the ceremony and royal gala, covered in an earlier summit report.
Felipe VI presented the forum as a counterweight to a world shaped by geopolitical divisions. He said “el diálogo da frutos,” meaning “dialogue bears fruit,” and argued that multilateral diplomacy still has a purpose even when global trends cannot be changed. He also said the spirit of the 1991 Guadalajara summit, where the Comunidad Iberoamericana was founded, remained useful 35 years later. The summit’s practical cooperation agenda also included the planned Ibero-American Disaster Risk Reduction Network, alongside digital cooperation.
Spain took over the temporary secretariat in Cuenca two years ago, with the stated aim of working on issues that significantly affect citizens’ daily lives. Felipe VI said that objective had been met and urged participants to develop the agreements with support from the Secretaría General Iberoamericana. He praised its head, Andrés Allamand, for the work carried out. The AI alliance was agreed at ministerial level on 3 November and is intended to coordinate regional cooperation on quality data and language-specific AI models, supported by computing capacity and cybersecurity, while protecting digital and cultural sovereignty. Its framework includes commitments on rights and privacy, with inclusion and sustainability guiding responsible AI use. It is voluntary and intended for gradual, complementary implementation rather than as a binding regional statute.
