Acts related to State foreign policy

You can consult information of interest here on trips and visits and other acts related to foreign policy, such as international summits and conferences.

The Directorate-General for Protocol, Chancellery and Orders organises the acts related to State foreign policy. These include visits by Their Majesties the King and Queen abroad and visits by foreign Heads of State to Spain.

Visits by Heads of State may be State, official or working visits. State visits are the most important and formal. They include such acts as an official reception with honours, a meeting with His Majesty the King at Zarzuela Palace and a gala dinner at the Royal Palace, a meeting with the President of the Government, a speech to Parliament, a visit to a monument of those who gave their lives for Spain or a visit to the City Council of Madrid. In addition, cultural activities, business and economic meetings and with national residents tend to be organised and, on occasions, trips to other autonomous regions.

The number of State visits is limited. The most recent ones to Spain were by the President of Peru, Martín Vizcarra in March 2019, and by the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, in November 2018.

Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain also make State trips abroad, such as their trip to Cuba in November 2019, to the Republic of Korea in October, to Argentina in March and to Morocco in February. State trips vary according to the country visited, but tend to include similar acts to those held in Spain.

In both cases, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation is responsible for the organisation of these trips and visits, through the Directorate-General for Protocol, Chancellery and Orders, in coordination with the Protocol Service of the Royal Household, the Presidency of the Government and the other institutions involved.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation also organises, through the Directorate-General for Protocol, Chancellery and Orders, other official and working visits by Heads of State, along with international summits and conferences, such as the 3rd International Conference on Safe Schools, held in Majorca in May 2019, and the Meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers of ASEM, held in Madrid in December, and collaborates in the organisation of sector conferences such as the COP25, also held in Madrid in December 2019. 

The Directorate-General for Protocol, Chancellery and Orders also organises visits by foreign affairs ministers to Spain and the activities that our foreign affairs minister attends, along with those that take place at the ministerial headquarters, particularly at Santa Cruz Palace and Viana Palace (award of decorations, working breakfasts and lunches for foreign dignitaries visiting Spain and receptions with delegations visiting Spain).

​