西班牙驻成都总领事洛佩兹：“来四川工作是一个不可多得的机遇”

文：《一带一路报道》全媒体记者 李卉嫔

3 月25 日，西班牙驻成都总领事馆正式开馆The Spanish Consulate General in Chengdu opens on March 25（四川省外事办公室 供图）

三月蓉城，春暖花开。

3 月25 日，在西班牙驻成都总领事馆开馆仪式现场，西班牙驻成都首任总领事洛佩兹告诉记者，四川气候宜人，风景让人心旷神怡，青城山、三星堆、九寨黄龙等风景名胜都给他留下了深刻印象，端午、中秋等中国传统节日也让他十分感兴趣。

“得知西班牙将在成都设立总领事馆，我就主动提出了申请。”洛佩兹表示，能成功申请成为西班牙驻成都总领事，是一个不可多得的机遇，这里不仅经济繁荣、人民友善，拥有很多历史文化古迹，还有他最爱的四川美食。洛佩兹说，西班牙驻成都总领事馆的设立，得益于中国与西班牙良好的政治关系，以及两国在商业、金融、旅游、教育和文化等方面的密切联系。

“一带一路”续写中西友谊

中西两国友好交往历史源远流长。早在2000 多年前，古老的陆上丝绸之路就将中国古都长安同西班牙塔拉戈纳联系在一起。400 多年前，中西双方通过海上丝绸之路建立了频繁的贸易往来。2014 年11 月18 日，义乌到马德里首开中欧班列，“一带一路”倡议和“钢铁驼队”又将中国与西班牙紧密联系在一起，续写着新时代的中西友谊。

2019 年10 月，西班牙瓦伦西亚自治区副主席奥尔特拉与卡斯蒂亚拉曼查自治区副主席马丁内斯率团访问四川并出席2019“一带一路”四川国际友城合作与发展论坛，双方就进一步深化在各领域的合作达成了共识。

洛佩兹表示，“一带一路”倡议提出的基础设施建设推动了中国与欧洲的互联互通，义乌与马德里间的中欧班列促进中西贸易就是明证。同样的，2021 年6 月，西班牙海陆航空公司（Plus Ultra）开通的马德里—成都货运直航，为两地的经贸往来带来了更大机遇。

【人物名片】Profile

（李卉萍 摄）

爱 德 华· 洛 佩 兹· 布 斯 克 兹（Eduardo López Busquets），2021 年3 月履新西班牙驻成都首任总领事。洛佩兹历任西班牙驻哥伦比亚、比利时、墨西哥等国大使馆参赞，2008 年至2020 年，先后担任西班牙驻莫桑比克、斯威士兰和伊朗大使。

Eduardo López Busquets is the first consul general of Spain in Chengdu who took office in March 2021. He used to be the counselor of the Spanish embassies in Colombia, Belgium,Mexico and other countries. From 2008 to 2020, López served as the Spanish ambassador to Mozambique, Eswatini, and Iran.

经贸交流富有成效

西班牙是四川在欧洲的重要合作伙伴。近年来，双方在经贸投资、人文交流等领域开展了富有成效的合作。包括路华救援、飒拉两家世界500 强企业在内的41 家西班牙知名企业和机构在川落户。2021 年，四川与西班牙进出口总额同比增长98.4%。

洛佩兹认为，四川的影响力覆盖中国西部地区，其蓬勃发展的经济将吸引更多西班牙企业来此投资兴业，比如西班牙驻成都总领事馆的临时馆址盛美利亚酒店就是一家西班牙品牌的酒店。

“四川高度重视研发和教育，是该地区经济增长和经贸吸引力增加的重要原因。”洛佩兹介绍道，近年来，西班牙与四川在汽车、航空、能源、农业等领域都有密切合作。

2009 年开始，西班牙英德拉公司与中国民航西南空管局在空管自动化系统领域开展合作。到2018 年6 月，双方合作升级，签署总金额为2283 万美元的天府国际机场空管工程主用自动化系统和主用集成塔台系统项目合作协议。

农业方面，四川自2009 年引种西班牙“阿贝基娜”油橄榄，并在成都市金堂县建立油橄榄综合示范园，还与西班牙多所大学开展科研合作。此外，以“农业+文创+新农村”为新模式的中西田园综合体项目，正在洽谈推进中。

另一方面，四川在西班牙也投资了两个大项目：成都成量工具集团有限公司投资527.72 万美元，加快建设国际高端丝锥生产基地；四川聚峰谷农业科技开发有限公司投资240万美元，开展橄榄油和橄榄树进出口贸易、红酒进出口贸易、农业生产技术服务进出口。

人文交流丰富多彩

四川与西班牙的友好交流可追溯到20 世纪90 年代。1994 年3 月，四川与瓦伦西亚自治区建立中国西部省份与西班牙第一对友好省际关系。巧合的是，瓦伦西亚正是洛佩兹的出生地，也是他读大学的地方。

截至2022 年3 月底，四川已与西班牙建立了11 对友好城市及友好合作关系城市。目前，洛佩兹正在积极推动成都与西班牙首都马德里建立友城关系。

教育合作方面，四川目前共有西班牙籍留学生46 人。四川大学、西南科技大学等4 所在川高校开设了西班牙语专业，并与西班牙高校长期开展校际合作。

体育方面，四川与西班牙在足球方面已有不少交流合作，四川九牛足球俱乐部、成都兴城足球俱乐部等聘请了西班牙籍教练，四川也多次派出球员到西班牙交流学习。进入大运会时间的成都，让洛佩兹看到了双方体育合作交流的更大机遇。“国际体育赛事，是国际人员交流的主要原因之一，西班牙与四川亦然。”洛佩兹表示。

文化交流方面，2021 年10 月，西班牙与成都共同举办了2021 成都·欧洲文化季之“西班牙—欧洲遗产保护奖—我们的欧洲”展览活动。洛佩兹透露，“今年6 月，还将与成都市人民政府外事办共同举办‘地铁遇见普拉多博物馆’活动”。2023 年将迎来中西两国建交50 周年，西班牙正计划开展和中国之间的文化和旅游年，其中就包括重要的艺术展览和文化活动。

旅游方面，西班牙驻成都总领事馆计划开设签证处，方便中国游客前往西班牙旅游。如今，疫情给双方游客互访带来了限制，洛佩兹希望疫情早日结束，尽快恢复成都与西班牙之间的直航，这对恢复西班牙和四川之间的旅游、文化和教育交流至关重要。

In March, spring arrives in Chengdu.

On March 25, at the opening ceremony of the Spanish Consulate General in Chengdu, López, the first consul general of Spain in Chengdu, revealed his affection for Sichuan and its pleasant climate and picturesque scenery. He is also impressed by such scenic areas as Qingcheng Mountain, Sanxingdui,Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, and interested by traditional Chinese festivals such as the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival.

“As soon as I learned that Spain would set up a consulate general in Chengdu, I immediately applied to work here.” López said that it is a great opportunity for him to act as the Spanish consul general in Chengdu, which is home to a prosperous economy, friendly people, plenty of historical and cultural sites,and his favorite Sichuan food. López said that the establishment of the Spanish Consulate General in Chengdu should be credited to the sound political relations between China and Spain, as well as the close ties between the two countries in commerce, finance,tourism, education and culture.

BRI revives China-Spain friendship

China and Spain enjoy a long history of friendly exchanges.More than 2,000 years ago, the ancient overland Silk Road connected the ancient Chinese capital Chang’an with Spain’s Tarragona. More than 400 years ago, China and Spain started frequent trade contacts through the Maritime Silk Road. On November 18,2014, the first China-Europe Railway Express train from Yiwu to Madrid was put into operation. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the China-Europe Railway Express dubbed as a “steel camel fleet” have closely linked China and Spain,reviving their friendship in the new era.

In October 2019, Monica Oltra,Vice Chairman of the Autonomous Community of Valencia, Spain, and José Luis Martínez Guijarro, Vice Chairman of the Autonomous Community of Castilla la Mancha, Spain, led a delegation to visit Sichuan and attended the 2019 Belt and Road Forum for Cooperation and Development of Sichuan International Friendship Cities. The two sides reached consensus on further deepening their cooperation in all fields.

Infrastructure construction under the frame of BRI has enhanced connectivity between China and Europe, as evidenced by the China-Europe Railway Express train between Yiwu and Madrid that has boosted trade between China and Spain,López said. Similarly, in June 2021,Spanish airline Plus Ultra launched a direct cargo flight between Madrid and Chengdu, bringing great opportunities for economic and trade exchanges between the two places.

Fruitful economic and trade exchanges

Spain is an important partner of Sichuan in Europe. In recent years,the two sides have conducted fruitful cooperation in the fields of economy,trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges. 41 well-known Spanish companies and institutions, including Road China Assistance and Zara, two of the Fortune Global 500 companies, have set up branches in Sichuan. In 2021, the total import and export volume between Sichuan and Spain increased by 98.4%year on year.

López held that Sichuan has an influence in the entire western region of China, and its booming economy will attract more Spanish companies to invest and start businesses here.For example, the Gran Meliá Chengdu, the temporary site of the Spanish Consulate General in Chengdu, is a Spanish hotel.

“Sichuan’s top priority on technology R＆D and education contributes to its economic growth and increased economic and trade attractiveness.” López said that in recent years, Spain and Sichuan have had close cooperation in the fields of automobile,aviation, energy and agriculture.

Since 2009, Spain’s Indra has cooperated with CAAC Southwest Regional Administration in the field of air traffic control automation systems. By June 2018, the two sides had upgraded their cooperation and signed a cooperation agreement on the main automation system and main integrated tower system of the Tianfu International Airport Air Traffic Control Project with a total amount of USD 22.83 million.

In terms of agriculture, Sichuan introduced Spanish“Arbequina” olives in 2009, and has established a comprehensive demonstration park for olives in Jintang County, Chengdu, and carried out scientific research cooperation with many Spanish universities. In addition, the China-Spain pastoral complex project with a new model of“agriculture + culture ＆ creativity + new countryside” is under negotiation.

Sichuan has also invested in two large projects in Spain:Chengdu Chengliang Tools Group Co., Ltd. has invested USD 5.2772 million in Spain, aiming to accelerate the construction of an international high-end screw tap production base; Sichuan Jufenggu Agricultural Science ＆ Technology Development Co., Ltd. has invested USD 2.4 million to carry out import and export trade of olive oil and olive trees, wine and agricultural production technology services.

Diverse people-to-people exchanges

The friendly exchanges between Sichuan and Spain started in the 1990s. In March 1994, Sichuan and Valencia Autonomous Community established the first pair of friendly inter-provincial relations between a province in western China and Spain. Coincidentally, Valencia is where López was born and where he attended college.

By the end of March, Sichuan had established 11 pairs of friendship city relations and friendly cooperation relations with Spain. Now López is accelerating the establishment of friendship city relationship between Chengdu and Madrid,capital of Spain.

As for educational cooperation, 46 Spanish students are studying in Sichuan. Four universities in Sichuan, including Sichuan University and Southwest University of Science and Technology, have offered the major of Spanish and carried out long-term inter-school cooperation with Spanish universities.

As to sports, Sichuan and Spain have had a lot of exchanges and cooperation in football. Sichuan Jiuniu Football Club and Chengdu Better City Football Club have hired Spanish coaches, and Sichuan has sent players to Spain for exchanges and study many times. As the Chengdu 2021 FISU World University Games draws near, López sees greater opportunities for sports cooperation and exchanges between the two sides.“International sports events are one of the main reasons for international personnel exchanges, as are Spain and Sichuan.” López said.

In the field of cultural exchanges,Spain and Chengdu jointly held the exhibition “Spain-European Heritage Awards-Europa Nostra” of the 2021 Chengdu Europe Culture Season in October 2021. “In June this year, we will also hold the ‘Encuentro con el Museo del Prado’ activity with the Foreign Affairs Office of the Chengdu Municipal People’s Government.” López said. In 2023, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Spain, Spain will launch the activity of Spain-China Year of Culture and Tourism, which will include important art exhibitions and cultural events.