Finnish president hosts Spanish state visit banquet in Helsinki

President Alexander Stubb used the state banquet at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki on 6 October 2026 to welcome Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia on a state visit to Finland. He said Suzanne and he were honored to host the royal couple and noted that the last state visit from Spain to Finland had taken place 37 years earlier, in 1989.

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Stubb said the earlier visit by King Juan Carlos had included remarks in Helsinki about the geographical distance between Finland and Spain and their closeness in spirit. He presented the banquet as a continuation of that relationship and said the two countries' ties had only grown stronger over time.

The president also described personal links to Spain. He said that during his military service in Santahamina he had been permitted to travel to Spain to play in the Spanish Open golf tournament at Las Brisas, while other conscripts trained in Lapland.

He said this had been his first meaningful connection with Spain and that it had not been his last. Stubb said Spanish contacts had also helped him when he arrived as a newcomer in the European Parliament.

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He named Íñigo Méndez de Vigo as someone who helped him navigate the institutions and said that personal relationships mattered as much as the institutions themselves. He also referred to Camilo Villarino, now the King's Head of Household, and recalled long negotiations on the Nice Treaty and Villarino's habit of reading Foreign Affairs after exhausting rounds of talks.

He said Spain is perhaps the EU country Finns know best and stated that around 10 percent of the Finnish population travels on vacation to Spain every year. He added that every Finn has a story about Spain and referred to Club La Santa in Lanzarote as a central part of his own family's annual visits since 2008.

Stubb said Finland and Spain share a world of values, citing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and equality. He said both countries support multilateral cooperation and a rules-based international order, and argued that they share a common vision of a united, open, reform-minded and ambitious Europe.

The president then turned to security pressures facing Europe. He said Spain faces migration pressure on Europe's southern border and Finland safeguards Europe's eastern border.

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He mentioned the events in Ceuta and said Finland has faced instrumentalized migration from Russia. He said secure external borders and European solidarity are essential and added that no member state should be left alone when facing pressure that concerns all Europeans.

Stubb said Finland stands in full solidarity with Spain. He also said Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine continues to test Europe's resilience and unity, and that instability in the Middle East and migratory pressures affect Europe as a whole.

He said changes in the transatlantic relationship require Europeans to assume greater responsibility for their own security and defence. He concluded that there are no longer "your challenges" and "our challenges," only common European challenges, and closed with toasts to Spain, Finland, Europe and the friendship between the two countries.

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