Sanchez decorates Pelosi before meeting with Biden

WASHINGTON (EFE): The head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, has praised former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi for her bravery in her defense of democracy, earning her the Medal of Spain.

Last night Pelosi received from Sanchez the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabel la Católica, awarded by the Spanish government, among other reasons, for “breaking the glass ceiling” for being the first woman to become Speaker of the US House of Representatives.

The award ceremony was held at the residence of the Spanish ambassador to the United States, on the occasion of the presence of Sanchez in Washington, who will meet Friday with US President Joe Biden.

As stated by the Spanish government, in his speech at this event closed to the press and first on the agenda of his visit to the US capital, Sanchez highlighted Pelosi’s courage and perseverance in his defense of democracy and women’s rights.

He also highlighted his work to strengthen relations between Spain and the United States and to build bridges between different cultures.

It was on April 25 when the government of Spain agreed to award the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic to Pelosi, a member of the US Democratic Party.

This decoration recognizes the extraordinary civic merits of those persons who contribute to friendly relations with the Spanish nation and with the rest of the international community.

“For me, this is an honor personally, officially, diplomatically, and in so many ways,” he said upon receiving the cross.

Pelosi mentioned Spain’s commitment to NATO and the fight against climate change, two of the main issues that will be the focus of today’s meeting between Sanchez and Biden.

Spain joins the US Artemis space exploration programme

Prior to this meeting, it was also announced that Spain had decided to join the Artemis program, which the United States is promoting to establish the rules that will eventually regulate the permanent presence on the Moon and the exploration of other celestial bodies such as Mars.

A senior US official told EFE the news ahead of the meeting that US President Joe Biden and the head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, will be held at the White House on Friday.

According to this source, the two leaders plan to talk about the Artemis Accords and about how to strengthen cooperation between Spain and the United States in space.

The United States began officially promoting Artemis in 2017, under the presidency of Donald Trump (2017-2021)

Its goal is to create a legal framework for space exploration and to establish a permanent base on the Moon that will facilitate missions with humans on Mars.

With Spain, 25 countries are already participating in the Artemis program, and as signatories to this agreement, they are committed to peaceful space exploration and sharing of their scientific discoveries, as well as to encouraging the creation of “safe zones” in which every nation can conduct operations on the surface of the moon without interference from others.