The Kings begin their first state trip of 2024 on Wednesday, a route through the Netherlands that will take them to the Dutch cities of Amsterdam — where they will be received that same day by King William Alexander I and his wife Máxima Zorreguieta — and The Hague. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and senior officials from the Department of Commerce will accompany the monarch on what is his first state trip to the Netherlands and the sixteenth since his reign began in 2014. It is also the first trip with Camilo Villarino. at the head of the King's House, a position for which he was appointed last January to replace Jaime Alfonsín, who had been the right hand of the monarch three decades..
The visit to the Netherlands takes place in a context of “friendship” between both countries and with a relationship that diplomatic sources describe as increasingly intense at all levels: political, economic, commercial, civil and cultural. These sources take away the weight of the dispute over the transfer of Ferrovial's headquarters to the country of tulips for its tax benefits.
One of the sectors in which cooperation is closest is energy. Spain and the Netherlands signed an agreement in mid-2023 to promote the use of green hydrogen, a renewable gas that is used to decarbonize sectors that are difficult to electrify. On this trip, the King will visit the port of Amsterdam, the focal point of the project to create a corridor that transports green hydrogen from the port of Bilbao to the Dutch capital; It will be the second corridor of this type, after the one announced last year between Algeciras (Cádiz) and Rotterdam.
From the Dutch ports, the renewable gas will be distributed to the northwest and center of Europe, an area that, due to its industrial activity, still consumes a large amount of hydrogen of fossil origin. “To reduce their emissions, they have estimated that they will need to import alternatives to fossil fuels. And Spain is a candidate to provide part of this decarbonized energy in the form of hydrogen and derivatives produced in the Bilbao and Algeciras poles,” explains Ignacio Urbasos Arbeloa, Energy and Climate researcher at the Elcano Royal Institute.
The project is one more step towards the energy independence that Europe has been insistently seeking since 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic broke out, but especially since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, setting up a war at the gates of the European Union. Green hydrogen was identified by Brussels, Urbasos points out, as a “possible decarbonized alternative to Russian gas” (…) and therefore “its development is considered strategic.”
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In addition to promoting trade relations, for which he is accompanied by the Secretary of State for Commerce, ) and many others on the Dutch side (such as ING, Philips or Heineken).
During his visit to The Hague, reserved for Thursday and which has a more political nature, the head of state will meet with the presidents of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the host country. Although the Dutch Government is still in office, Felipe VI will have a working lunch with the Deputy Prime Minister, Rob Jetten, and will later participate in a colloquium organized by the Elcano Royal Institute and the think tank Clingendael. The star topic will be the strategic autonomy of the EU and future prospects, although current issues such as the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine will also be addressed.
common history
It has been 23 years since a Spanish state visit to the Netherlands took place, despite the historical ties between both countries, which date back four centuries. The trip of the Kings, which will include a meeting with members of the Spanish community residing there, is full of symbolism: Felipe VI and Letizia Ortiz made their debut as kings on an official (not state) trip abroad precisely in the Netherlands in October 2014.
Spain and the Netherlands represent the fourth and fifth economies of the European Union respectively, behind Germany, France and Italy. The two countries are parliamentary monarchies and their heads of state – Philip of Bourbon and William Alexander of Orange-Nassau, both 56 years old – belong to a new generation of monarchies in which the queens come from civil society and not from the aristocracy. . Furthermore, the future of the two royal houses falls on women: Princess Leonor and Princess Amalia, 18 and 20 years old respectively. The latter is scheduled to debut in an event at the highest institutional level as heir and future head of the Dutch State at the gala dinner that her parents will offer to Felipe VI and Queen Letizia on Wednesday at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.
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