Spain is a secondary actor within a middle-ranking bloc dealing with a major power. Diplomacy can soften but not change that asymmetry
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenSebastian Contin Trillo-FigueroaSebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa is a geopolitics analyst with a specialisation in EU-Asia relations, who serves as a consultant for public- and private-sector organisations, in particular think tanks. Published: 8:30pm, 25 Apr 2026Every time a European leader lands in Beijing with a business delegation, the same speculation follows: is the Atlantic consensus beginning to crack? Is part of Europe drifting towards China and away from Washington?In Spain’s case, the drama expires on contact with the record. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s four visits to Beijing in four years have not produced a European pivot, a strategic vision or a narrower trade imbalance. They have produced market access for agricultural goods.Call it the “fruit bowl” theory of international relations. March 2023 brought Spanish almonds and persimmons to China. September 2024 added eight all-encompassing agreements designed to sound larger than they were. April 2025 unlocked pork and cherries. This month delivered pistachios, poultry, dried figs and more pork. These are not incidental gains attached to a larger deal; they are the deal, with the value of a grocery basket.
After four visits and zero concessions from Beijing, Sanchez boasts that Spain enjoys the highest-level political dialogue with China in 53 years. The contrast between what he declares and what he secures is neat: historic interlocution, offal; strategic dialogue, pistachios.
A government lacking a single agreement or consultation with parliament on China engagement, and which sells this as elevation, could be said to have subordinated Madrid to Beijing rather than preserving its traditional place within the Western sphere. That in itself would not be fatal if these trips unlocked something more consequential: reciprocal market access, significant investment flows or any adjustment where Spanish and Chinese interests diverge.
