Picardo and Arias-Vasquez attend conference in Barcelona
The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, and the Minister for Health, Care and Business, Gemma Arias-Vasquez, attended the Global Progressive Mobilisation conference in Barcelona at the invitation of Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón.
Mr Picardo and Ms Arias-Vasquez were also due to attend an official dinner hosted by Mr Sánchez later in the evening.
The conference brought together progressive leaders, policymakers, activists and thinkers from around the world.
According to the Government of Gibraltar, this year’s event included speakers such as Mr Sánchez; Spain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares Bueno; former Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero; Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; the President of the European Council, António Costa; the United Kingdom’s Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy; and the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Teresa Ribera.
As part of the programme, Mr Picardo took part in a panel discussion titled “Confronting the Cost of Living Crisis”, where he outlined Gibraltar’s perspective on the pressures facing working people and families.
Mr Picardo said: “I am very grateful to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for inviting Gemma and I to attend the Global Progressive Mobilisation in Barcelona and to the official dinner hosted by him alongside it.”
“It was a real pleasure to be able to take part in such an important panel discussion on the cost of living crisis, which continues to affect working people and families across the world. I took the opportunity to explain Gibraltar’s own approach to supporting our community through difficult globally economically uncertain times.”
“It is great to be able to catch up with good friends and to have the opportunity to continue strengthening the ties of friendship and dialogue with colleagues from across Europe and beyond, which remain so important in the modern political and international context.”
