Pedro Sanchez has launched a blistering attack on the right and far-right’s stance on migration during a high-profile gathering of global progressive leaders in Barcelona.
The Spanish prime minister declared: ‘Spain is the daughter of migration and will not be the mother of xenophobia.’
The Spanish prime minister was speaking at the closing event of the Global Progressive Mobilisation, part of a wider international summit that brought together figures including Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Colombia’s Gustavo Petro.
Migration, war and global tensions dominate
Sanchez used the platform to draw a clear ideological battle line ahead of key political contests, accusing conservative forces of exploiting migration for political gain.
‘Don’t be fooled,’ he told the audience. ‘The extremists are not shouting because they are winning – they are shouting because they know their time is ending.’
He went further, arguing that progressive politics had already overtaken what he described as a failed neoliberal model, claiming it ‘died in 2008’ during the global financial crisis.
The Spanish leader also linked far-right politics to broader global instability, saying it had fuelled ‘war, inflation, inequality and social fracture.’
Oil crisis warning amid Middle East conflict
Earlier in the day, Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro warned that the escalating conflict in the Middle East – and its impact on oil markets – is forcing a global rethink.
He described the situation as one of the most serious geopolitical missteps in recent years and called for a ‘new global agenda’ that reduces dependence on fossil fuels.
‘The world must move away from oil,’ Petro said, tying the crisis directly to wider instability and the need for long-term structural change.
Lula: No country should impose its will
Brazil’s president Lula struck a similar tone, insisting that no nation has the right to dictate terms to others.
‘No president has the right to impose rules on other countries,’ he said, while also urging the United Nations to take a more active role in global crises.
Spain-Mexico ties reset
The summit also marked a symbolic thaw in relations between Spain and Mexico.
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum, on her first visit to Spain since taking office, played down any suggestion of diplomatic tension, insisting: ‘There has never been a crisis.’
Her presence signals a reset after years of friction over historical grievances linked to the Spanish conquest.
The Barcelona gathering forms part of a broader effort by progressive leaders to coordinate responses to global challenges, from inequality and digital governance to geopolitical instability.
