Ambassador Lipstadt’s Remarks from the Special Envoys and Coordinators Combating Antisemitism Forum
![Spain [Shutterstock]](https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Spain-2109x1406.jpg)
International Travel Information
What you need to know before you go: visas, Embassy & Consulate locations, vaccinations, etc.
International Travel Information: Learn MoreHighlights
February 22, 2023
Barcelona, Spain: American School of Barcelona: 2022-2023 Fact Sheet
February 22, 2023
Madrid, Spain: American School of Madrid: 2022-2023 Fact Sheet
January 11, 2023
U.S. Welcomes Spain’s Repatriation of Nationals from Northeast Syria
U.S. Relationship
U.S.-Spain Relations
The United States established diplomatic relations with Spain in 1783. Spain and the United States are close allies and have excellent relations based on shared democratic values, including the promotion of democracy and human rights.
Bilateral Economic Relations
Spain’s accession to the European Union (EU) in 1986 required the country to open its economy to trade and investment, modernize its industrial base, improve infrastructure, and revise economic legislation to conform to EU guidelines. Spain is now the fifth-largest economy in the EU and the fourth-largest economy in the Eurozone. Spain and the United States have a friendship, navigation, and commerce treaty as well as a bilateral taxation treaty, the implementation of which may stem the practice of many U.S. companies channeling their Spanish investments and operations through third countries.
![Spain Flag: three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double width), and red with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band; the coat of arms is quartered to display the emblems of the traditional kingdoms of Spain (clockwise from upper left, Castile, Leon, Navarre, and Aragon) while Granada is represented by the stylized pomegranate at the bottom of the shield; the arms are framed by two columns representing the Pillars of Hercules, which are the two promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar; the red scroll across the two columns bears the imperial motto of "Plus Ultra" (further beyond) referring to Spanish lands beyond Europe; the triband arrangement with the center stripe twice the width of the outer dates to the 18th century. Note: the red and yellow colors are related to those of the oldest Spanish kingdoms: Aragon, Castile, Leon, and Navarre. [CIA World Fact Book]](https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/sp-lgflag.gif){kind=small}