THE ROLE OF SPAIN IN THE RELATIONS BETWEEN EUROPE, LATIN AMERICA AND CHINA: THE IMPOSSIBLE 'TRIANGULATION'

Abstract

Relations with China have taken on great importance in the foreign policy of all countries since the extraordinary growth of the Asian giant since the end of the last century. As we will see throughout this paper, Spanish-Chinese relations are a priority issue in our foreign policy, but they are not exclusive to the 21st century. Spain has a long and ancient history of its encounters with China. It also occupies a "key" position as a geographical and cultural bridge between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, between Europe and Africa and between Europe and Latin America. Moreover, with the latter region, Spain has a community of culture and interests. Therefore, Spain is the central point of three crossroads: historical, cultural and economic, which it can use to compensate for its peripheral position with respect to the central axes of the "Belt and Road Initiative", and perhaps play an important role in the near future, through what in Spain is called "triangulation", fundamentally, with Latin America. This article attempts to critically approach this Spanish aspiration of "triangulation" with respect to Europe and Spanish-speaking America.