Why Spain’s outreach to China offers a viable model for Europe

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s fourth visit to Beijing in four years has once again drawn attention across Europe and the Atlantic, but perhaps less scepticism than before. In an era marked by intensifying US-China rivalry, geopolitical fragmentation and the European Union’s emphasis on “de-risking”, Spain’s sustained engagement with China is often seen as a strategic divergence from Brussels. That reading, however, underestimates both Spain’s intentions and the broader shift under way...