Belgium–Spain relations are the bilateral relations between Belgium and Spain. Belgium has an embassy in Madrid and four consulates general in:

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, Barcelona, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

. Spain has an embassy and a consulate in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. The relations between both countries are defined mainly by their membership in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

and by being allies in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

, as well as belonging to numerous international organizations, which makes their relations have ample development in the framework of them.

History

In 1516

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

, sovereign of the Netherlands accepted the Crown of Castile and Aragon and agreed to be Carlos I of Spain. The stories of Spain and

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

came together to maintain a very close relationship over the centuries. Charles I was born sixteen years earlier in the city of Ghent. In Brussels the Palace of Carlos V was built, today recovered in an important archaeological site. Numerous Spanish merchants had already traveled to Flanders before and had formed in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

an important community. In fact 1330 a consulate is created especially for them, and today two hotels refer to those times: Hotel Navarra and Hotel Aragón. The merchants were joined by the soldiers of Carlos I. Many of them stayed and now there are families in Belgium of clear Spanish descent: the Ayala, the Béjar, the Perez, the Manrique ...

Diplomatic relations

Spain and Belgium maintain diplomatic relations from the first moment of Belgian independence in the 19th century. Until the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the Spanish representation was in charge of a "Plenipotentiary Minister". From that moment the Marquis of Villalobar was elevated to the rank of Ambassador. Relations between Spain and Belgium, traditionally good, did not present any significant dispute.http://www.exteriores.gob.es/documents/fichaspais/belgica_ficha%20pais.pdf Oficina de información Diplomática After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Francisco Franco refused to extradite

Léon Degrelle Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle (; 15 June 1906 – 31 March 1994) was a Belgian Walloon politician and Nazi collaborator. He rose to prominence in Belgium in the 1930s as the leader of the Rexist Party (Rex). During the German occupatio ...

, sentenced "in absentia" for collaboration with the

Nazi occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...

. In 1960, King Baudouin of Belgium married the Spanish Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, which meant that between 1960 and 1993 Belgium had a Spanish queen consort.

Separatism movements in Catalonia and Flanders

Due to the influence of

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

separatism in Belgian politics, in legal matters there is disparity of criteria between the two countries. The Belgian justice system has refused on several occasions to deliver

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

members accused of terrorism to the Spanish justice system. An example is the case of Natividad Jaúregui, in which Belgium was condemned by the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...

. In November 2017, the president of the

Generalitat de Catalunya The Generalitat de Catalunya (; oc, label= Aranese, Generalitat de Catalonha; es, Generalidad de Cataluña), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia politically organizes its self-government. It is formed ...

Carles Puigdemont Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (; born 29 December 1962) is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. Since 2019 he has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). A former mayor of Girona, Puigdemont served as President of Catalo ...

, appears in Belgium after leaving Spanish territory together with a group of faithful consellers. Puigdemont had been dismissed by the Spanish Government, which had applied the

article 155 Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article may also refer to: G ...

of the

Spanish Constitution The Spanish Constitution (Spanish, Asturleonese, and gl, Constitución Española; eu, Espainiako Konstituzioa; ca, Constitució Espanyola; oc, Constitucion espanhòla) is the democratic law that is supreme in the Kingdom of Spain. It was e ...

, revoking Catalan autonomy and assuming the control of the same. Spanish justice began the process to extradite the president dismissed for crimes of sedition, having declared the independence of part of Spanish territory. The defenders of Puigdemont defended that justice had been done by giving voice to the Catalan people. These were joined by the Flemish pro-independence right-wing and far-right, who saw in the

Catalan independence movement The Catalan independence movement ( ca, independentisme català; Spanish: ''independentismo catalán'') is a social and political movement (with roots in Catalan nationalism) which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. The beginnings ...

a reflection of their own. The Belgian government refused to officially support Carles Puigdemont on understanding that it was an internal Spanish matter, but by not having tacitly supported the Madrid government it served to initiate a diplomatic crisis with the central government of Spain. On 14 December, the

Audiencia Nacional The Audiencia Nacional (; en, National Court) is a centralised court in Spain with jurisdiction over all of the Spanish territory. It is specialised in a certain scope of delinquency, having original jurisdiction over major crimes such as those ...

withdrew the euro-order to arrest Puigdemont and the escaped consellers, for which the Belgian justice filed the necessary procedures for his extradition. In 2021, after the Belgian justice rejected the extradition of rapper Valtònyc, accused of inciting terrorism, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

has warned that Belgium is becoming a sanctuary for those who have fled from Spanish justice, with which the problem does not reside in Spain, but in the Belgian courts which could be in breach of European regulations, in addition to being biased. In 2022, the European Commission backed the

Spanish Supreme Court The Supreme Court ('', TS'') is the highest court in the Kingdom of Spain. Originally established pursuant to Title V of the Constitution of 1812 to replace —in all matters that affected justice— the System of Councils, and currently regula ...

in the conflict with Belgium about the euro-orders of "procés", stating before the

CJEU The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) (french: Cour de justice de l'Union européenne or "''CJUE''"; Latin: Curia) is the judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Seated in the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg ...

that "there is no systemic problem regarding the rule of law in Spain" and that the Belgian authorities cannot add requirements not contemplated in the European regulations on deliveries.

Business relations

Within the framework of bilateral investments, Belgium ranks 16th in the ranking of countries by investor position in Spain (Belgium as the last country of investment) with a total investment stock, without taking into account the entities holding foreign securities. (NO ETVE), of €2,668 M in 2013 (0.90% of the total, latest data available) and the 20th position in the list of countries by investment position of Spain abroad, with a stock of total investment (NO ETVE) of €3,674 million in 2013 (1.12% of the total, latest data available).

Embassies

The Embassy of Belgium is located in

Madrid, Spain Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. The Embassy of Spain is located in Brussels, Belgium.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belgium-Spain relations Relations of colonizer and former colony

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...