Spain, 2014

It is a great honour

and privilege to address the General Assembly as the

King of Spain at the start of my reign.

I appear before the Assembly to share with the

international community my country’s commitment

to the universal principles and values that best define

humanity. Today I have the pleasure to present what

Spain — renewed but remaining true to itself and to

its international commitments — can offer for peace,

liberty, justice and human rights in all nations and for

all persons, along with well-being and prosperity.

As a nation with ancient roots and a clear global

calling, Spain has contributed intensely and decisively

to shaping world history. Let us recall that Spain was

present at the genesis of globalization and of international

law, as well as of medieval parliamentarianism and

contemporary liberal democracy. With that perspective

of centuries, we see clearly that our best contributions

come about when we move forward while opening up

to the world.

Sincerely, despite our problems, I see Spanish

society today as exemplary in its commitment to human

dignity, in solidarity with the most marginalized.

Spaniards harbour a profound sense of equality. They

reject fanaticism, violence and intolerance and love

peace. Spanish society is culturally and linguistically

diverse, capable of overcoming difficulties responsibly

and with integrity while demanding integrity and

excellence as civic values intrinsic to democracy. Spain

is a strong, generous and vigorous country, and I feel

truly proud of it.

Therefore, today we Spaniards look to the future

with a firm will to share and to help to build a better

reality for all peoples. Our foundations are solid, forged

over centuries and strengthened especially in recent

decades. The commitments Spain has made with the

rest of the international community are established on

those foundations.

Democracy is today the essential guide of our

collective coexistence. It will soon be four decades

since the beginning of Spain’s political transition,

which allowed us to move from a dictatorship to a

political system based on freedoms and rights and

marked by a desire for historical reconciliation and a

true spirit of harmony. Allow me, therefore, to lay claim

Spain’s political masterpiece with pride and emotion,

an example for many in the world. We Spaniards have

built a social and democratic order based on the rule

of law that protects all citizens and Spain’s various

territories in their political, geographic, cultural and

linguistic diversity. Thus Spain’s firm commitment

to promoting and defending democratic values in the

world can always be counted on.

Without forgetting the impact of the crisis, Spain’s

economic development, particularly since the second

half of the past century, has placed our economy among

the first in the world and among the most open and

competitive. Today we have achieved global leadership

rankings in various sectors with a high added value

and significant social impact. Bearing that in mind,

Spain strongly supports a global and sustainable way

of economic development that makes possible material

progress and well-being, that generates employment

and protects individuals and their social rights, a

sustainable development model respectful of the

environment, respecting international norms and with

high, ethical economic values.

Spain has always been a major cultural Power.

We understand that in all societies, culture shapes our

identity and is a source of material and non-material

wealth. The strength of Spanish, a universal language

shared by dozens of countries and hundreds of millions

of people on all continents, decisively contributes to

guaranteeing greater cultural and linguistic diversity in

the international arena. That is clearly an objective of

the human community, so widely diverse, represented

here. The Spanish language must therefore fully

assume its formal position as an official language of

the United Nations and as a working language that is

fully used and represented. Given the scope and depth

of our cultural base, we affirm Spain’s commitment

to defending cultural diversity in all of its aspects and

manifestations.

Spain’s history and privileged geographic position

at a crossroads of continents, seas and civilizations

have led it to develop a solid, universal perspective

and a special connection to some regions in the world.

Among them, Europe represents an obvious dimension.

The process of continental integration around the

European Union today is part of the national project of

the Kingdom of Spain. We call for a Europe of greater

unity and cohesiveness that preserves and extends the

democratic and civic values that inspired its creation

and that works to guarantee the prosperity of all of its

citizens. We also defend a Europe that is marked by

strength and solidarity that generously and effectively

contributes to the peaceful progress of all regions of

the world.

Due to its history and culture, the Ibero-American

community of nations is a substantial part of our

collective identity and represents for us a true

brotherhood. That sentiment extends to other areas,

thanks to the cultural, historic and linguistic

connections that we also maintain with other nations

and peoples in the rest of the Americas, in Africa, Asia

and Oceania.

The Mediterranean, with its northern and southern

shores, together with the Middle East and the entire

Arab world, are areas very close to Spain, not only

geographically, but also culturally and emotionally.

That is why we affirm our will and interest in

contributing to the stability of the region, as something

fundamental for achieving peace in the world. It is a

region in which some societies suffer the scourge of an

intolerable barbarism, a criminal and atrocious violence

that threatens all societies of the planet and the very

values of universal human civilization.

Spain’s global vocation and its commitments in

democratic, economic and cultural matters that I have

just mentioned are summarized by its full commitment

to the Charter of the United Nations, on behalf of which

we are convened here. The Charter represents one of

the greatest achievements of humankind; we must

therefore preserve, respect and enforce it. Thus Spain

firmly believes in the United Nations and its multilateral

mechanisms for preserving international peace and

security and for contributing to the development of

societies.

We live in times marked by a proliferation of

conflicts, some of which are especially devastating and

have indiscriminate impacts on civilians. Our primary

objective must be to prevent war, and when we fail, we

must protect and assist the innocent and the injured.

We must never relent in our efforts to resolve conflict

through diplomacy and all of the instruments bestowed

by the Charter of the United Nations. Above all, we

must not lose hope, and we must remember that in spite

of everything, the longing for harmony can and must

prevail over even the most entrenched hatreds.

A tapestry version of Guernica — a work by the

universal Spaniard, Pablo Picasso — hangs outside the

entrance to the Security Council Chamber. The scene

depicted in this art icon still stirs our conscience and

reminds us of the fatal consequences of our inability to

prevent and resolve conflicts that afflict us all. It is a

mistake to think that wars or man-made disasters affect

only one community or one region without any impact

on the others. When barbarism triumphs in one part of

the world, no one is beyond its reach; we are all victims.

But armed conflicts are not the only threats to the

international community. Evil takes many forms and

their victims have many faces: every child caught in

a crisis situation or in violence, every woman who is

molested or whose rights are limited simply because

she is a woman, every patient who dies for lack of

medicine or every abandoned elderly person, every

family without food and without hope because of an

unjust distribution of wealth, every journalist murdered

for doing his or her duty to inform — all of these are

so many appeals to our conscience and to our sense of

duty, and so many calls to action.

The members of the General Assembly can count

on Spain as we confront, together and in the framework

of international law, those who seek to destroy, through

their intolerance, violence or sectarianism, the values

and principles that underlie our United Nations. Spain

has always demonstrated its unconditional support for

the United Nations system and its active responsibility

with regard to the principles that we all recognize in

this Assembly: freedom, justice, equality, national

sovereignty, independence and the integrity of States.

Spain will continue to assume, as it has, its full

responsibilities as a Member of United Nations.

Against this background, Spain is taking another

step forward as a candidate for a non-permanent seat

on the Security Council for the 2015-2016 biennium.

Our candidacy is an integral part of my country’s solid

commitment to serve the international community

more, and to serve it better. That is what we have done

in the Security Council once every decade over the past

40 years, because the Assembly has trusted us. I only

ask that that trust be renewed.

In the past 25 years, 130,000 members of the

Spanish armed forces have participated in peacekeeping

operations and humanitarian aid missions in all regions

of the world. They have been — and, above all, have

felt — part of a great collective effort to which many

of the countries represented here have contributed.

Similarly, in recent decades Spain has consolidated its

status as one of the leading contributors to development

cooperation. There is no lasting peace without lasting

security, without sustainable development. There is

no sustainable development without greater solidarity,

both among and within nations. Furthermore,

development must be accompanied by policies of

inclusion that envisage the full equality of women and

their incorporation in all spheres of political, social and

economic life.

As we can see, Spain has a spirit of solidarity. In

the past 14 years, my compatriots have contributed

$30 billion to global development. Of this contribution,

nearly $1 billion has been earmarked for achieving the

Millennium Development Goals, through a fund set up

by Spain and co-led by the United Nations Development

Programme. That is the largest contribution made by a

single country. Specifically, one of the most important

tasks of the General Assembly at this session will be to

finalize the negotiations for the post-2015 development

agenda and to establish the sustainable development

goals. Here, too, Spain has taken a step forward by

creating the first fund that is already functioning for

these sustainable development goals.

To a large extent, achieving sustainability involves

fighting the harmful effects of climate change. The

Climate Summit held yesterday and the recent Third

International Conference on Small Island Developing

States, held in Samoa — whose organization Spain

contributed to — have raised our awareness even

further on this issue. They also enable us to improve

our response and resilience in the face of restricted

situations, especially as regards the most vulnerable

States whose very survival is at risk.

The sustainable development goals that we have

set for ourselves are within our reach. Again, there

are reasons for hope. I am thinking in particular of the

progress made in Africa, a continent that is so close

to Spain and where new examples of innovation and

creativity are found everywhere. Africa is a continent

of the present and future, where over the past decade we

have seen some of the fastest-growing economies. But

it is crucial to put an end to the conflicts that still afflict

parts of the region and hold back its development. From

the Sahel to the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes

region, Spain contributes to ending these conflicts

by meeting its commitments, which are born out of

solidarity and proximity.

We believe in Africa and we are demonstrating that

belief, for instance when acute crises arise such as the

Ebola epidemic, which is affecting a major and growing

part of the central region. I want to express the Spanish

people’s solidarity with the victims and our support for

those who are doing everything possible to assist them,

sometimes at the cost of their own lives. And I offer my

own heartfelt tribute to the humanitarian aid workers of

the United Nations, whose vocation leads them to leave

everything behind for the most vulnerable, wherever

they may be.

It has been almost 30 years since my father,

King Juan Carlos, addressed this General Assembly for

the first time (see A/41/PV.4). Today, as then, Spain is

open to a new age. Today, as then, we take our place

as active and responsible members of international

community represented here. I can assure those present

here that the international community, represented

today in the General Assembly, can continue to count

on Spain’s support and active participation in the

unwavering protection of the values and interests of

humankind in peace, peace that is ever more prosperous

and just. Spain supports a United Nations that is not

only stronger but, above all, more united — more

united against bigotry, intolerance and barbarism, more

united in fighting poverty, hunger and marginalization,

more united so that education and health can reach all,

and more united in firmly defending the dignity of all

human beings.