SPAIN'S president Mariano Rajoy is playing devil's advocate in a bid to maintain diplomatic relations with the USA – he has offered to be a 'go-between' for the North American country in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and north Africa.
The first-ever telephone conversation between the two leaders took place last night (Tuesday) and lasted for 15 minutes and covered issues such as bilateral USA-Spain relations, national security, and the economy.
Rajoy later tweeted that the chat was 'cordial' and had helped to 'continue to strengthen the bond that benefits the people of two allied countries'.
Trump was said to be especially interested in Spain's current economic situation, at which point Rajoy volunteered: “With a stable government and an economy growing at more than 3%, Spain is in the best possible condition to act as intermediary for the USA in Europe, Latin America and also in north Africa and the Middle East.”
A press release after their conversation did not reveal whether the two heads of State had talked about specific issues such as the controversial 'Mexican wall' and travel ban on citizens of seven mostly-Muslim countries.
They did, however, approach the subject of Brexit and, when Trump enquired about the future of the European Union, Rajoy assured the Republican of his conviction that, 'in the next few months', the process of EU integration would become stronger and that Spain would work towards achieving this.
The two presidents commented on the NATO leaders' summit in Brussels in May, which is likely to be the first time they will meet in person.
Rajoy and Trump spoke of the strong bilateral relationship between Spain and the USA in terms of defence, since the North American country has a deal in place allowing it to use the Rota and Morón air-bases in Andalucía freely.
Although the 'Muslim traveller ban' is not believed to have been raised, the subject of the self-styled 'Islamic State', or DAESH, did crop up, and Trump and Rajoy recalled that their cooperation in this area is very wide.
Rajoy also mentioned that the Spanish Armed Forces are currently based in Iraq, training its national troops so that they are able to fight off DAESH more effectively, and that Spain and the USA work closely together on Intelligence sharing for the same purpose.
They both remarked on how their two-way trading and investment relations were 'balanced and mutually-beneficial', with Spain's investment in the USA having increased to €62 billion.
