French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Barcelona on Thursday, for a bilateral summit aimed at strengthening cooperation in the wake of a recent spat over a gas pipeline project that has since been shelved. France and Spain, who have just “buried the hatchet” following a rare disagreement over an energy project, will celebrate the closeness of their relations in Barcelona.
Macron is set to sign a friendship treaty with Prime Minister Sánchez aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation in multiple sectors.
This treaty is only the third of its kind signed by France with a European nation, following the 1963 Franco-German Elysée Treaty – since fully completed by the Aachen Treaty in 2019 – and the Quirinal Treaty, signed with Italy in 2021.
The summit comes three months after France, Spain and Portugal agreed to shelve the contentious “Midcat” gas pipeline project – which Paris opposed – and replace it with a “green” hydrogen pipeline linking Barcelona to Marseille.
Credit: rfi
