Luanda — Outgoing Spanish Ambassador to Angola Manuel Maria Lobo said in Luanda on Monday that cooperation and friendship between Angola and Spain were going through a period of close rapprochement.

The diplomat was speaking to the press after an audience granted to him by President of the Republic João Lourenço, to whom he paid a farewell visit at the end of his diplomatic mission in Angola.

Manuel Maria Lejarreta Lobo explained that the meeting served to take stock of bilateral relations and recall some of the main moments that marked cooperation between the two countries during his tenure.

Among these, he highlighted the state visit to Angola by King Felipe VI of Spain in February 2023, which he described as particularly important in deepening relations between the two countries.

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The diplomat also referred to Spain's participation in the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of National Independence in 2025, as well as the African Union-European Union Summit held in Angola, on which occasion Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the country.

According to Manuel Maria Lejarreta Lobo, during the audience President João Lourenço also addressed Angola's recent accession to the Ibero-American Community as an associate member state.

He explained that Spain, as Pro Tempore Secretariat of the Ibero-American Community, together with Portugal, supported Angola's application, after the country submitted the necessary documentation to join the organisation bringing together countries from Europe and the Americas whose official languages are Spanish and Portuguese.

"Angola presented the necessary documents very well and, therefore, is already part of the Ibero-American Community as an associated member state," he said.

The diplomat said his mission in Angola had been marked by important experiences and expressed satisfaction with the way he had been received by the Angolan authorities and with the working environment he had encountered in the country.

He said he had thanked President João Lourenço for the support and openness shown throughout his mission, as well as the Angolan authorities for their cooperation with the Spanish diplomatic mission.

Relations at an "excellent stage"

Asked about the current state of relations between Angola and Spain, Manuel Maria Lejarreta Lobo said the two countries were enjoying "an excellent stage" in their relations, with prospects for further cooperation in several areas.

"I think they are at an optimal, excellent stage in all areas," he said, while stressing the need to continue working to increase Spanish investment in Angola.

The diplomat recalled that when he arrived in Angola in December 2021, bilateral relations were already at a high level, following President João Lourenço's official visit to Spain in October of the same year.

He added that the two countries subsequently took "a very important step" with the state visit by the King of Spain to Angola in 2023.

Manuel Maria Lejarreta Lobo stressed that the visit was a milestone in relations between the two countries, noting that it was, at the time, the Spanish monarch's only state visit to sub-Saharan Africa.

"That says a great deal about our relations," he stressed.

The diplomat also called for a stronger presence of Spanish businesses in Angola and said there were opportunities to increase investment, given the potential of the Angolan economy.

"We still have to make a greater effort to attract more Spanish investment, because I think it is possible and because Angola is a country with many opportunities," he said.

Manuel Maria Lejarreta Lobo leaves Angola after four years of diplomatic service, during which he witnessed the deepening of political, economic and institutional cooperation between the two countries.

Before leaving the country, the diplomat also held farewell meetings with Angolan authorities and officials from various institutions, reiterating his intention to continue following the development of bilateral relations from Spain.

Angola and Spain have maintained diplomatic relations since 19 October 1977, marked by ties of friendship, cooperation and partnership in areas such as politics, the economy, trade, culture, education, science and infrastructure.

Bilateral cooperation was strengthened by the General Cooperation Agreement, signed in Madrid in 1987, and has gained fresh momentum in recent years through increased economic and business ties and intensified high-level contacts. AFL/ART/DOJ