Lula to visit Madrid on Monday to meet Sánchez, two weeks before Spain’s election

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will make a trip to Madrid on Monday, November 16, ahead of Spain's general election on November 29. The visit comes as Sánchez aims to secure re-election. This will be Lula's first visit to Spain since his victory in Brazil's election on October 25. Spanish officials say the two leaders will meet at Moncloa Palace to discuss ties between their nations and coordinate projects like Democracy Always and the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty.

Lula is en route back from the UN climate summit, COP31, in Antalya, Turkey, and the ASEAN summit in Manila, where he will also visit the Philippines as a state guest. The Spanish media claims the trip will also feature a political function where Lula will openly support the Socialist candidate. Sánchez's team has spent two weeks working to secure this event.

Lula will be joined by congressman André Janones, who orchestrated the digital strategy helping Lula's comeback. However, Spanish officials and Sánchez's party insist Janones is not influencing Sánchez's campaign and there are no plans for him to do so in the future. Recent polls indicate a modest improvement for the Socialists, but not enough to form a government.

A survey by 40dB for El País and Cadena SER shows the Socialist Party up nearly two points, while the People's Party and Vox together hold a sizable absolute majority of over 190 seats—176 are required to govern. Neither Lula nor Sánchez attended the Ibero-American Summit in Madrid last week. Lula needed to recuperate his voice after the campaign, while Sánchez conversed by phone with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum about bilateral relations and the summit's outcome.