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The Philippines–Spain relations describes the relations between the Philippines and Spain. The relations between the two nations span from the 16th century, the Philippines was the lone colony of the Spanish Empire in
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
for more than three centuries. Both nations are members of the
Association of Academies of the Spanish Language The Association of Academies of the Spanish Language ( es, Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, ASALE) is an entity whose end is to work for the unity, integrity, and growth of the Spanish language. It was created in Mexico in 1951 a ...
and the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
.


History


Precedents

Even before the formal colonization of the Philippines by Spain, on the islands there were already Muslims and Moors who had escaped from the recently overthrown
Emirate of Granada ) , common_languages = Official language:Classical ArabicOther languages: Andalusi Arabic, Mozarabic, Berber, Ladino , capital = Granada , religion = Majority religion:Sunni IslamMinority religions:Roma ...
. As Muslim Castilian speakers were recorded to have been in the area as they spread throughout the Muslim world even as far as Islamic Manila, one of them was a man named Pazeculan This Castilian speaking Moor was in the service of the Rajah of Manila and Admiral of the Brunei Sultanate,
Rajah Matanda Rajah Ache ( Abecedario: ''Rája Aché'' pronounced ''Aki''), better known by his title Rajah Matanda (1480–1572), was one of the rulers of Maynila, a pre-colonial Indianized and Islamized Tagalog polity along the Pasig River in what is now ...
, when he encountered the
Magellan expedition The Magellan expedition, also known as the Magellan–Elcano expedition, was the first voyage around the world in recorded history. It was a 16th century Spanish expedition initially led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan to the Moluccas ...
.


Spanish colonization of the Philippines

Spain and the Philippines share a common history in the fact that the Philippines was part of the Spanish Empire for three hundred years and was the sole Spanish colony in
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
.
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
-born Spanish explorer
Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the East ...
first encountered the Philippines and named the islands after King Philip II of Spain.History of the Philippines
/ref> In 1565, Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi arrived from present-day Mexico and established a European settlement in
Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...
. Soon afterwards, the
Captaincy General of the Philippines The Captaincy General of the Philippines ( es, Capitanía General de Filipinas ; tl, Kapitaniya Heneral ng Pilipinas) was an administrative district of the Spanish Empire in Southeast Asia governed by a governor-general as a dependency of the V ...
was governed from the
Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Amer ...
, based in Mexico City. For the next 300 years, the Philippines was a Spanish province. Trade and communication between Spain and the Philippines was administered by the ''
Manila galleon fil, Galyon ng Maynila , english_name = Manila Galleon , duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years) , venue = Between Manila and Acapulco , location = New Spain ( Spanish Empir ...
''. In 1896, the Philippine Revolution began for independence from Spain. The revolution lasted through 1898 when the Spanish–American War broke out. The Spanish–American War resulted in Spain losing its domain over the Philippines and the nation was transferred over to the United States, thus ending the Philippine Revolution. The Philippines would be governed by the United States until 1946.


Post Independence

During the Spanish Civil War, Filipino volunteers fought for both sides in the war. In 1947, the Philippines and Spain established diplomatic relations.70 Aniversario de Relaciones Diplomáticas (in Spanish)
/ref> Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, relations between both nations have strengthened through cultural and historical similarities. In 1995, King Juan Carlos I of Spain paid his first official visit to the Philippines.Relaciones entre España y la Filipinas (in Spanish)
/ref> There have been several high-level visits between leaders of both nations. King Juan Carlos I and his wife, Queen Sofia, attended the 1998 centennial celebrations in Manila, commemorating 100 years of independence from Spain. The mediation of the Spanish King is said to have produced the pardon and liberation of two Philippine domestic workers sentenced to death in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Philippine President,
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the House Deputy Speakers since 2022, and previously from 2016 to 2017. She previously ...
, concluded her second state visit in Spain in July 2006, bringing back millions of dollars of Spanish investments, particularly in tourism and information technology. Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines, Jorge Domecq, told the reporters that the "Philippines is the only country in Asia to receive more aid and development assistance from Spain than any other Asian country". He added that the Philippines remains a priority of the Spanish aid in development efforts and partnerships with the EU, even despite budget cuts on development funding brought on by austerity measures being implemented by the Government of Spain. In July 2012, the Queen Sofia visited the Philippines for a fourth time. She inspected several development projects around the former Spanish colony that her country's government is funding via the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). She visited the National Library, National Museum and the
University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Migu ...
. She also met with Spanish nationals residing in the Philippines, and attend a reception at the Spanish Embassy. She also attended a state dinner in her honour at Malacañang Palace hosted by President
Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III (; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and Colloquialism, colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the List of presidents of the Philippines, 15th presid ...
. Also during her visit in the former colony of her country, Queen Sofia expressed appreciation to Aquino for the country's effort to reintroduce the Spanish language in the Philippine public education system. Filipinos are one of the largest Asian communities in Spain, with a number of individuals obtaining Spanish citizenship. Most Filipinos in Spain work in various jobs and companies such as domestic and healthcare services, some individuals also work in education and government institutions. In 2017, both nations celebrated 70 year of diplomatic relations. However, in 2019, the Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, dictated that he wanted to change the name of the country "Philippines" to "erase the Spanish historical trail", something he failed to do. On September 5 of the same year, the Spanish frigate ''Méndez Núñez'' made the historic port-visit, making it the first
Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...
vessel in the Philippines, since the
Battle of Manila Bay The Battle of Manila Bay ( fil, Labanan sa Look ng Maynila; es, Batalla de Bahía de Manila), also known as the Battle of Cavite, took place on 1 May 1898, during the Spanish–American War. The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodor ...
during the Spanish–American War in 1898. Currently, diplomatic relations between Spain and the Philippines are considerably weaker unlike the priorities that Spain has with other
ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military ...
countries, such as
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.


Cultural cooperation

Both countries have tried to rescue their historical ties. Since 2002, the
Philippine–Spanish Friendship Day Philippine–Spanish Friendship Day ( es, Día de la Amistad Hispano-Filipina fil, Araw ng Pagkakaibigang Pilipino-Espanyol) celebrates the strong links between the Republic of the Philippines and the Kingdom of Spain every June 30. It commemorat ...
is celebrated every June 30, promoted with the aim of strengthening the relationship between both nations that share history, values, and traditions. In 2009, the Philippine academic and former president,
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the House Deputy Speakers since 2022, and previously from 2016 to 2017. She previously ...
, was awarded the '' Don Quixote'' International Prize, which recognized the Philippine educational initiative to introduce the Spanish language in the Philippines. In this sense, on February 23, 2010, during the V Spain-Philippines Tribune, an agreement was reached between the Ministries of Education of Spain and the Philippines, the Instituto Cervantes, and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), by which all secondary school students in the Philippines have the option to study Spanish since 2012.


Bilateral agreements

Both nations have signed several bilateral agreements such as a Treaty on civil rights and consular powers (1948); Treaty on the validity of academic degrees and the exercise of professions (1949); Air transportation agreement (1951); Agreement on the suppression of visas for diplomatic and official passport holders (1962); Agreement on technical cooperation in tourism (1971); Agreement on social security (1988); Agreement on economic and industrial cooperation (1988); Agreement to avoid double taxation and prevent tax evasion of income taxes (1989); Agreement for the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments (1992); Extradition treaty (2004); Memorandum of Understanding on Technical Cooperation in Matters of tourism (2007); Memorandum of Understanding of Cooperation in the field of Renewable Energies and Biofuels (2007); Agreement on Cultural, Sports and Educational Cooperation (2007); Treaty on transfer of convicted persons (2007) and an Agreement on cooperation in the fight against
transnational crime Transnational crimes are crimes that have actual or potential effect across national borders and crimes that are intrastate but offend fundamental values of the international community. The term is commonly used in the law enforcement and academic ...
(2015).


Resident diplomatic missions

* Philippines has an embassy in Madrid and a consulate-general in Barcelona. * Spain has an embassy in Manila.Embassy of Spain in Manila
/ref>


Country comparison


See also

*
Spanish Filipino Spanish Filipinos ( es, español filipino / hispano filipino / castellano filipino; cbk, español filipino / hispano filipino / conio; Filipino/ tl, Kastilà / Espanyól / Tisoy / Konyo; ceb, Katsílà / Ispaniyul; hil, Katsílà / Espany� ...
*
Spanish influence on Filipino culture The Spanish influence on Filipino culture has been profound, having originated from the Spanish East Indies. A variety of aspects of the customs and traditions in the Philippines today can be traced back to this influence. Background Spanish ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philippines-Spain relations Spain Bilateral relations of Spain Relations of colonizer and former colony