Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

maintain diplomatic relations established in 1916. From 1918 to 2006, Spain maintained relations with the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

, the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

(SFRY), and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) (later

Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

), of which Serbia is considered shared (SFRY) or sole (FRY) legal

successor Successor may refer to: * An entity that comes after another (see Succession (disambiguation)) Film and TV * ''The Successor'' (1996 film), a film including Laura Girling * The Successor (2023 film), a French drama film * ''The Successor'' ( ...

History

After

Expulsion of Jews from Spain The Expulsion of Jews from Spain was the expulsion of practicing Jews following the Alhambra Decree in 1492, which was enacted to eliminate their influence on Spain's large ''converso'' population and to ensure its members did not revert to Judais ...

in 1492 by the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of Crown of Castile, Castile () and Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Crown of Aragón, Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of ...

ruling Castile and Aragon many

Sephardi Jews Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

settled in Balkan provinces of what was then

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. With the rise of

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

among Orthodox Christians of Ottoman Empire they have organised rebellions against Muslim ruling elite starting with the 1804

Serbian Revolution The Serbian Revolution ( / ') was a national uprising and constitutional change in Serbia that took place between 1804 and 1835, during which this territory evolved from an Sanjak of Smederevo, Ottoman province into a Revolutionary Serbia, reb ...

against Ottoman rule. Revolution was running in parallel with the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. Process of

decline of the Ottoman Empire In the 18th century, the Ottoman Empire faced threats on numerous frontiers from multiple industrialised European powers as well as internal instabilities. Outsider influence, rise of nationalism and internal corruption demanded the Empire to lo ...

will continue until the end of

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

in 1913 with the gradual reconquest of the Balkan peninsula by newly independent states and southward retreat of Ottoman Empire. In 1882 philosopher and senator

Ángel Pulido Ángel Pulido Fernández (1852–1932) was a Spanish physician, publicist and Liberal politician, who stood out as prominent philosephardite during the Restoration. Biography Born on 2 February 1852 in the calle de las Infantas, Madrid, to a h ...

is writing how one Sephardic merchant at the market in Belgrade told him ''"I am not Spanish from there

pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sense, sensory and emotional experience associated with, or res ...

but Spanish from the East."'' In the same year

Milan I Milan Obrenović IV ( sr-cyr, Милан Обреновић, Milan Obrenović; 22 August 1854 – 11 February 1901) reigned as the Prince of Serbia from 10 June 1868 until 1882, when he became King of Serbia, a title he held until his abdic ...

was awarded with the

Order of Charles III The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III (, originally ; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OC3) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bes ...

on the occasion of his proclamation as the King of Serbia. In 1895

Đorđe Popović-Daničar Đorđe ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе; transliterated Djordje) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, common in Serbian. It is derived from Greek ''Georgios'' (''George'' in English). Other variants include: Đurđe, Đurađ, Đura, Đuro, Georg ...

have published the first translation of

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

into Serbian which according to him was ''"the best novel in the world"''. In his translation undertaking he was helped by Sephardi Jew Hajim Davičo. In 1903

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (, 29 January 1867 – 28 January 1928) was a journalist, politician, and a bestselling Spanish novelist in various genres whose most widespread and lasting fame in the English-speaking world is from Hollywood films that ...

arrived at Belgrade on the

Orient Express The ''Orient Express'' was a long-distance passenger luxury train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company ''Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits'' (CIWL) that operated until 2009. The train traveled the length of continental Europe, w ...

service where he stated that city is ''"relatively cosmopolitan, with trams, cafes, and theaters, but full of nervous military men, women wanting to imitate French fashion and drunk orthodox priests"''. Since 1910 Spain had one diplomatic representative in the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

, Mr Francisco Serrat i Bonastre, who stayed at that function throughout the Balkan Wars all until the 1914 and the beginning of World War I which began after the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand,

July Crisis The July Crisis was a series of interrelated diplomatic and military escalations among the Great power, major powers of Europe in mid-1914, Causes of World War I, which led to the outbreak of World War I. It began on 28 June 1914 when the Serbs ...

and

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

declares war on Serbia.

World War I and the interwar years

Serbian Campaign of World War I The Serbian campaign was a series of military expeditions launched in 1914 and 1915 by the Central Powers against the Kingdom of Serbia during the First World War. The first campaign began after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 ...

resulted in Serbia losing a third of its entire population. After the

Serbian Army's retreat through Albania The Great Retreat, also known in Serbian historiography as the Albanian Golgotha ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Албанска голгота, Albanska golgota), refers to the retreat of the Royal Serbian Army through the mountains of the Principalit ...

, which resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, the country's government together with some of its population settled at the Greek island of

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

. Spain was a neutral power in the war but one which was actively involved in mediation among the conflicting parties. At one point Spain was involved in the provision and protection of 1,500 Serbian children and the release of 100 prisoners of war in Banja Luka in 1917. The Serbian Government on Corfu and Spain established diplomatic relations in 1916 and in the same year the first Serbian ambassador arrived at Madrid. During the interwar years, famous Serbian poet

Jovan Dučić Jovan Dučić ( sr-Cyrl, Јован Дучић, ; 15 February 1872 – 7 April 1943) was a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serb poet-diplomat and academic. He is one of the most influential Serbian lyricists and Modernist poetry, modernist poe ...

(1919-1921) and

Ivo Andrić Ivo Andrić ( sr-Cyrl, Иво Андрић, ; born Ivan Andrić; 9 October 1892 – 13 March 1975) was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1961. His writ ...

(1928-1929, 1961 recipient of the

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

) were serving as ambassadors of the newly founded

to Spain. At the same time

Kalmi Baruh Kalmi Baruh ( sr-cyrl, Калми Барух; 26 December 1896 – 1945) was a Bosnian Jewish scholar in the field of Judeo-Spanish language, pioneer of the Sephardic studies and Hispanic studies in former Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Life and a ...

was in Spain on scholarship received from the Spanish Government studying for the post-doctoral historical studies in the Spanish center of Historical Studies in Madrid.

Spanish Civil War

Francoist Period

Post-Franco Spanish-Yugoslav relations

The relations between the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Kingdom of Spain were relatively cordial since the end of Francoist period in Spain. They were mostly kept at the diplomatic level as Spain was focusing on its integrations into European Community and NATO. Some among the Spanish politicians were considering the option to follow the Yugoslav

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 121 countries that Non-belligerent, are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. It was founded with the view to advancing interests of developing countries in the context of Cold W ...

way like

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

did at the time. Future Spanish foreign minister

Miguel Ángel Moratinos Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyaubé (born 8 June 1951) is a Spanish diplomat and politician, a member of the Socialist Workers' Party and was a member of Congress from 2004 to 2011, where he represented Córdoba. From 2004 to 2010, he served as t ...

served in Belgrade as a young diplomat in the 1980s. Spanish presence in Yugoslavia would later be transferred to Serbia and would not be completely cut of even during the years of sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro.

Yugoslav Wars

In 1991, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain

Francisco Fernández Ordóñez Francisco Fernández Ordóñez (22 June 1930 – 7 August 1992) was a Spanish politician who was the minister of foreign affairs in the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) government of Felipe González from 1985 until shortly before his de ...

proposed to the Foreign Affairs Council of the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

to initiate a quick recognition and enlargement procedure with Yugoslavia as the only way to prevent the breakup of the country. Spain preferred to be perceived as the neutral player in the region during the conflict but its foreign policy was generally sympathetic towards Serbia which was perceived as the core state of former multinational and diverse Yugoslav state. It was against Spanish political instincts to recognize

independence of Croatia The independence of Croatia was a process started with the changes in the political system and the constitutional changes in 1990 that transformed the Socialist Republic of Croatia into the Republic of Croatia, which in turn proclaimed the Chr ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

at the time of

breakup of Yugoslavia After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart in the early 1990s. Unresolved issues from the breakup caused a series of inter-ethnic Yugoslav ...

, yet as a new member state of the European Community country was reluctant to break the European unity. At the time, newly

united Germany The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

was the strongest advocate of independence for Croatia and Slovenia with all 12 members of the European Community, as well as

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

following German push for recognition. Under the leadership of

José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (Spain), People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spai ...

, the Spanish Government had decided that the

Spanish Armed Forces The Spanish Armed Forces are in charge of guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of the Spain, Kingdom of Spain, defending its territorial integrity and the constitutional order, according to the functions entrusted to them by the Spanish ...

would be a part of the coalition enacting the

1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an ag ...

. Out of 16 NATO member states at the time, 13 took part in the intervention. The member states that did not partake in the bombings were Iceland, which maintained no standing army; Luxembourg with a very small standing army; and Greece as the only major member state which expressed strong opposition to the intervention. 38% of Spanish citizens supported the participation of Spain and 42% of them opposed it. At the same time all of the Spanish

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in parliament, with the exception of the radical left which held 23 out of 350 seats, voted in favor of Spanish participation in NATO intervention.

Javier Solana Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga CYC (; born 14 July 1942) is a Spanish physicist and PSOE politician. After serving in the Spanish government as Foreign Affairs Minister under Felipe González (1992–1995) and as the Secretary Gener ...

was the NATO Secretary-General at the time of intervention. Spanish F-18s were among the first planes to strike targets in Serbia; Aznar's Government supported subsequent interventions in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

as well.

Political relations

In 2009

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain The following is a list of foreign ministers of Spain, since 1808 until now serving in Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kingdom of Spain (1808–73) Ministers of State (1820–23/1834–73) and Secretaries of the Office of State (1808–20/18 ...

Miguel Angel Moratinos --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disam ...

urged the

Government of Netherlands A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a mea ...

to unblock Serbia's

Stabilization and Association Agreement In talks with countries that have expressed a wish to join the European Union, the EU typically concludes Association Agreements in exchange for commitments to political, economic, trade, or human rights reform in that country. In exchange, th ...

with the European Union which at the time was already signed but its implementation had been blocked by the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. After the

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

's recommendation of February 2012, Serbia received full candidate status on March that year. In 2013 the European Council endorsed the Council of Ministers conclusions and recommendations to open accession negotiations with Serbia. Spain is strongly supporting Serbia's accession negotiations. On the meeting of

European External Action Service The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the diplomatic service in charge of executing all Foreign relations of the European Union, international relations of the European Union. The EEAS is led by the Vice-President of the European Co ...

in 2018 Spanish representatives together with some of those from

Visegrád Group The Visegrád Group (also known as the Visegrád Four or the V4) is a cultural and political alliance of four Central European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The alliance aims to advance co-operation in military, e ...

required to get actively involved in the EU facilitated Belgrade–Pristina negotiations. Serbian president

Aleksandar Vučić Aleksandar Vučić, (born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as President of Serbia since 2017. A founding member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as President of the SNS from 2012 to 2023, Deputy Prim ...

visited Spain in 2022, with scheduled meetings with king

Felipe VI Felipe VI (; Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. In accordance with the Spanish Constitution, as monarch, he is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed For ...

and prime minister

Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has served as Prime Minister of Spain since 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since July 2017, having p ...

, seeking to seal the purchase of two military aircraft

C-295 The Airbus C295 (previously CASA C-295) is a medium tactical transport aircraft that was designed and initially manufactured by the Spanish aerospace company CASA, which is now part of the European multinational Airbus Defence and Space divis ...

. In July of 2022, in the wake of a visit to the Western Balkans (including Serbia) of Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez and a meeting with Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić, the former stressed the Spanish support to the advance in Serbia's EU membership negotiations, also declaring that "international law and the territorial integrity of nations must be respected" in relation to Kosovo.

Spain's stance on Kosovo

Spain is one of five member states of the European Union (other being

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

) that does not recognize unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo and is actively opposing its membership in international organisations such as

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

and Interpol. In addition, Spain is supporting Serbia's insistence on establishment of

Community of Serb Municipalities The Community of Serb Municipalities (, ZSO; , AKS) is a planned inter-municipal association of Serbs in Kosovo, ethnic Serb majority Municipalities of Kosovo, municipalities in Kosovo. The proposal for the association came as a result of the 20 ...

in Kosovo as provided by the 2013 Brussels Agreement signed under the auspices of the European Union.

Serbia's stance on Catalonia

Serbia strongly supported Spanish territorial integrity during the

2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis A constitutional crisis took place in Spain from 2017 to 2018 as the result of a political conflict between the Government of Spain and the Generalitat de Catalunya under the then-President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, President Carles Puigd ...

, with Serbian Foreign Minister stating that Spain is one of the best international friends of Serbia.

High-level visits

Spanish officials in Serbia

* 26 February 2007;

(Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation) visits Belgrade and

Priština Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdom. The heritage of th ...

. * 17 and 18 September 2007;

Bernat Soria Bernat Soria Escoms (born 7 May 1951) is a Spanish scientist. He is also affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, for whom he served as Minister of Health from 2007 to 2009. He was educated at the University of Valencia (MD, PhD), ...

(Minister of Health) attends 57th Session of the Committee Regional Office of WHO in Belgrade. * 10 January 2009; Miguel Ángel Moratinos (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation) visits Belgrade. * 11 December 2009; Miguel Ángel Moratinos (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation) visits Belgrade. * 20 April 2010; Miguel Ángel Moratinos (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation) visits Belgrade. * 28 and 29 March 2011; Diego López Garrido (Secretary of State for the European Union) visits Belgrade. * 14 June 2011; Trinidad Jiménez (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation) visits Belgrade. * 4-6 September 2011; Juan Antonio Yañez-Barnuevo (Secretary of State for Foreign Relations) attends 50th Anniversary

Meeting in Belgrade. * 14 October 2011; María Luisa Cava de Llano (Acting Ombudsman) visits Serbia. * 16 March 2012; Miguel Cardena (Secretary of State for Sport) attends XII Conference of the Council of European Ministers of Sport in Belgrade. * 21 and 22 March 2012;

Jorge Fernández Díaz Jorge Fernández Díaz (born 6 April 1950) is a Spanish politician and a member of the Partido Popular (PP). Early life and education Born on 6 April 1950 in Valladolid, he was the son of a military officer and Deputy Inspector-Chief of the B ...

(Minister of the Interior) visits Serbia. * 21 and 22 November 2012; Fernando García Sánchez (Chief of the Defence Staff) visits Serbia. * 2-4 December 2015; Ignacio Ybáñez (Secretary of State for Foreign Relations) visits Serbia. * 23 and 24 May 2016;

José Manuel García-Margallo José Manuel García-Margallo y Marfil (; born 13 August 1944) is a Spanish politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation from 2011 to 2016. From 1994 until 2011, and again from 2019 until 2024, he was a member of the Eur ...

(Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation) together with Fernando Eguidazu (Secretary of State for the European Union) visits Serbia. * 22 June 2017; Juan López Herrera (Director General for Bilateral Relations with European Union Countries) and José Martín y Pérez de Nanclares (Head of the International Law Division) visits Serbia. * 20 July 2017; Enrique Mora (Director General for Foreign Policy) visits Serbia. * 30 November 2017; Jorge Toledo (Secretary of State for the European Affairs) and Juan López Herrera (Director General for Bilateral Relations with European Union Countries) visits Serbia. * 18-20 July 2017; José Manuel Maza (Attorney General of the State) attends "Twinning" project closure in Belgrade.

Serbian officials in Spain

* 18 July 2007;

Vuk Jeremić Vuk Jeremić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Јеремић, ; born 3 July 1975) is a Serbian politician and diplomat who served as the president of the United Nations General Assembly from 2012 to 2013 and as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia from 2 ...

(Minister of Foreign Affairs) visits Madrid. * 9 and 10 October 2007; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) attends OSCE Conference of Ministers of Foreign Relations on the topic of discrimination of Muslims in Madrid. * 29 and 30 November 2007; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) attends OSCE Conference of Ministers of Foreign Relations in Madrid and meets Miguel Ángel Moratinos. * 14 December 2007;

Dušan Spasojević Dušan Spasojević ( sr-cyrl, Душан Спасојевић; 10 July 1968 – 27 March 2003), known by the nicknames Duća and Šiptar (a derogatory term for Albanians) was the head of one of the largest Serbian criminal groups on record, the ...

(acting Minister of Defense) visits Madrid and meets the State Secretary for Defense. * December 2007;

Snežana Malović Snežana Malović ( sr-cyr, Снежана Маловић, , born 10 September 1976) is a Serbian politician and former Minister of Justice in the Government of Serbia, and a former member of the Democratic Party. She served as Deputy Secretary ...

(Minister of Justice) visits Madrid. * 15 January 2008; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) attends I Forum of the

Alliance of Civilizations The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) is an initiative that attempts to "galvanize international action against extremism" through the forging of international, intercultural and interreligious dialogue and cooperation. The Allia ...

in Madrid and meets with Miguel Ángel Moratinos. * 22 April 2008; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) visits Madrid where he meets with Miguel Ángel Moratinos. * 4 July 2008; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) visits Madrid. * 1 December 2008; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) and Ivica Dačić (Minister of Internal Affairs) visits Madrid. * 9 March 2009;

Boris Tadić Boris Tadić, (born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012. Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology. He later worked as a journalist ...

(

President of Serbia The president of Serbia (), officially styled as President of the Republic (), is the head of state of Serbia. The current officeholder is Aleksandar Vučić, who was elected in 2017 and has held the role since 31 May 2017. According to the C ...

) and Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) visits Madrid. * 23 February 2010; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) visits Madrid. * 31 January 2011; Ivica Dačić (Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs) signing of bilateral agreement on fight against crime and organized crime. * 6 October 2011;

Mirko Cvetković Mirko Cvetković ( sr-Cyr, Мирко Цветковић, ; born 16 August 1950) is a Serbian economist and former politician who served as the Prime Minister of Serbia, prime minister of Serbia from 2008 to 2012 and as finance minister from 200 ...

(

Prime Minister of Serbia The prime minister of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, премијер Србије, premijer Srbije; feminine gender, feminine: премијерка/premijerka), officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, председн ...

) attends Hispanic-Serbian Business Forum in Madrid. * 10 April 2012; Snežana Malović (Minister of Justice) visits Madrid. * 3 May 2012; Vuk Jeremić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) visits Madrid. * 28 May 2013; Suzana Grubješić (Vice Prime Minister for European Integrations of Serbia) visits Madrid. * 6 June 2017; Katarina Lalić (Vice Prime Minister) attends OSCE Conference in

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

. * 8 June 2017; Ivica Dačić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) visits Madrid. * 19-21 July 2017; Jana Ljubičić (Delegate from the Ministry of the Internal Affairs) and Vladimir Rebić (Director of the Serbian Police) visits Madrid. * 26 and 27 September 2017; Ivica Dačić (Minister of Foreign Affairs) attends opening of the Honorary Consulate of Serbia in

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

Economic relations

Trade between two countries amounted to $1.1 billion in 2023; Spain's merchandise exports were standing at roughly $723 million; Serbia's exports to Spain were about $372 million.https://pks.rs/pregled-spoljnotrgovinskih-kretanja Spanish companies present in Serbia include Viscofan (with packaging plant in

Jagodina Jagodina ( sr-cyrl, Јагодина, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Pomoravlje District in central Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Belica (river), Belica River, in the geographical region of � ...

), Refisa (auto-parts plant in

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the List of cities in Serbia, fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Se ...

), and Teknia (auto-parts plant in Kragujevac).

Inditex Industria de Diseño Textil, S.A. (Inditex; , ; ) is a Spanish multinational clothing company headquartered in Arteixo, Galicia, Spain. The largest fast fashion group in the world, it operates over 7,200 stores in 93 markets worldwide. The compa ...

through its stores (Zara, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius) is the biggest fashion retailer in Serbia.

Cultural cooperation

Instituto Cervantes Instituto Cervantes (, the Cervantes Institute) is a worldwide nonprofit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991. It is named after Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), the author of ''Don Quixote'' and perhaps the most important fi ...

, cultural centre devoted to the Spanish and Hispanic American culture and Spanish language has been operating in Belgrade since 2004. In his novel "Danube: A Sentimental Journey from the Source to the Black Sea",

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

novelist

Claudio Magris Claudio Magris (; born 10 April 1939) is an Italian scholar, translator and writer. He was a senator for Friuli-Venezia Giulia from 1994 to 1996. Life Magris graduated from the University of Turin, where he studied German studies, and has been ...

is describing 1734 settlement of

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern a ...

in the town of

Bečkerek Zrenjanin ( sr-Cyrl, Зрењанин, ; ; ; ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Central Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city urban area has a population of 67,129 inh ...

in modern-day Serbian province of

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

where they have established a so-called New

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Magris, C. (2013). Dunav. p. 299. Fraktura.

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

. Northern Serbian city of

Zrenjanin Zrenjanin ( sr-Cyrl, Зрењанин, ; ; ; ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Central Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city urban area has a population of 67,129 inh ...

is mentioned in the novel "Waiting for Robert Capa" (under its old name of Petrovgrad) of Spanish author Susana Fortes. Jewish protagonist's brothers who are running from persecution, are settling in Petrovgrad, just on the border with Romanian, because as protagonist claim, there was never tradition of

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

in Zrenjanin.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Serbia has an embassy in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. * Spain has an embassy in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. File:Viviendas del arquitecto Ricardo García Guereta.JPG, Embassy of Serbia in Madrid File:Spanish Embassy in Belgrade 2024.jpg, Embassy of Spain in Belgrade

References

External links

Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Spain

Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Madrid, Kingdom of Spain

Spanish Ministry of Foreign Relations about relations with Serbia (in Spanish only)

Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in Belgrade, Republic of Serbia

Spanish-Serbian Chamber of Commerce

Instituto Cervantes de Belgrado
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serbia-Spain relations Serbia–Spain relations, Bilateral relations of Serbia, Spain Bilateral relations of Spain