The leader of the Popular Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, stated this Monday that Spain has a "special affinity" for Cuba and that, if he reaches the presidency of the Government, he will work alongside the United States to ensure that "prosperity and freedom reach Cuba."
The statements were made in an interview published by OkDiario, in response to a question about whether his second trip as head of government would be to Washington, as he specified that the first would be to Morocco.
"Well, I don't know, but the United States is a country with which Spain has historical relations and now it has two additional reasons: Venezuela and Cuba," he indicated.
Next, the president of the PP pointed directly to the Government of Pedro Sánchez as responsible for the deterioration of Spain's international image concerning both countries.
“Spain has a debt to Venezuela and Cuba due to Sánchez's foreign policy in recent years, supporting the dictatorships of Chávez and Maduro,” he stated, without mentioning the Cuban dictators and referring only to those from Venezuela.
"Spain has a special affection for Cuba. And, along with the USA, it must ensure that prosperity and freedom reach Cuba out of respect for the Cuban people," he concluded.
Under socialist management, Spain approved in October 2025 a new restructuring of the Cuban debt for 193.4 million euros, reactivated a debt conversion program of up to 375 million euros, and opened a new consulate in Camagüey.
In May 2026, the Supreme Court ordered the Ministry of Economy to disclose the details of those agreements, after nullifying the declaration of secrecy that protected them.
Alignment with Washington
Feijóo's stance on Cuba is part of a broader strategy aimed at strengthening ties with the U.S. administration.
In February of this year, Feijóo spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and promised that Spain would be "a reliable partner for our allies," describing the exchange as "a fruitful conversation."
The statements made this Monday reinforce that line: Feijóo is committed to making Spain an active player in support of the democratic transition on the island, rather than just a facilitator of financial agreements with the regime.
The PP has also requested that Spain promote the suspension of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with Cuba in the European Union.
A turn regarding his Galician period
The current stance contrasts with the one Feijóo held during his years at the helm of the Xunta de Galicia.
In May 2016, he visited Havana for the second time to chair the XI Council of Galician Communities Abroad, where he celebrated the "indestructible" ties between Galicia and Cuba and met with the then chancellor Bruno Rodríguez.
In that speech, he invoked the relationship between Manuel Fraga and Fidel Castro—"a Galician from Manatí and another from Láncara"—as a symbol of Galicia's role as a "linking point" with the Island.
Then, about 30,000 Galicians were registered in Cuba according to data from the Xunta.
The tone was one of cooperation and rapprochement, very different from the demand for democracy that has characterized his discourse since he assumed the presidency of the PP in 2022.
Morocco first, Washington on the horizon
In the same interview, Feijóo confirmed that his first trip as president would be to Morocco, reviving a tradition started by Felipe González and followed by Aznar, Zapatero, and Rajoy, which Sánchez broke in 2018 by traveling first to Paris.
Regarding Venezuela, Feijóo had already taken a stance in January 2026, after the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces, stating that “the future is not Delcy” and supporting Edmundo González and María Corina Machado as key figures in the democratic transition in that country.
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