Resident commissioner discusses congressional agenda with King of Spain

Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón, left, has co-chaired the Friends of Spain Caucus in the U.S. Congress for five years.

By John McPhaul

jpmcphaul@gmail.com

The King of Spain, Felipe VI, concluded his visit to Puerto Rico on Wednesday with a private audience with Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón, who has co-chaired the Friends of Spain Caucus in Congress for five years.

Also at the meeting were Spanish Economy Minister José Manuel Álvarez and the Spanish ambassador to the United States, Santiago Cabanas, with whom the resident commissioner is known to have excellent relations.

They discussed the issues in common between the United States and the Kingdom of Spain such as Defense matters, as both nations are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), on whose Parliament the resident commissioner has served as representative of the U.S., and the U.S. military installations in Spain, Rota Naval Base and Morón Air Base, which González Colón has visited.

In addition to renewable energy, infrastructure and business exchange, they discussed issues that the resident commissioner worked on when she was invited in 2018 by the Spain-USA Council Foundation in her capacity as co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Spain Caucus for visits with officials, forums and conferences to discuss bilateral relations between Spain and the U.S. in order to encourage commercial ties between Spain and the island.

As co-chair of the Friends of Spain Caucus, the resident commissioner has promoted forums and discussions in Congress on relations between the two nations. In 2020, González Colón received the medal of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic for her great contribution to strengthening relations between the governments of the Kingdom of Spain and the United States. The medal was presented to her by Cabanas in Washington, D.C.

Founded in 2006, the Friends of Spain Congressional Caucus is a bipartisan group of 28 members of Congress that seeks to improve relations between the U.S. and Spain and promote political, economic, and social ties between Puerto Rico and Spain.