Felipe VI calls for finding a "diplomatic way out" of the conflict with Iran

BarcelonaThe traditional pre-Mobile dinner, with King Felipe VI and the country's main political and business personalities, was held this Sunday evening at the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) to kick off the most important technology and connectivity congress, the Mobile World Congress (MWC). This year, the congress celebrates its twentieth edition in Barcelona, from this Monday until Thursday, March 5th. Long gone are the meetings where the news was the (non-)greeting between the Catalan government and the monarchy; now the talk is of international geopolitics.

Last year, the monarch's speech focused on reiterating Spain's support for Ukraine after three years of conflict, this year's has revolved around the war in Iran following the attacks by Israel and the United States. "A few days after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, I underlined, in this very forum, the indispensable nature of the principles that hold the international community together, principles such as peace, dialogue, and cooperation – the King stressed –. "Four years after the start of Putin's aggression, there is still no clear path to peace. We must continue to stand firm in our defense of the ethical dimension of humanity, of its values and its principles, which are universal," he added.

"As we speak, the Middle East is once again falling into a critical juncture, with a clear risk of regional escalation and unpredictable consequences. We demand maximum restraint in the use of force, respect for civilian lives, and the search for a diplomatic solution to this current logic of confrontation. We call for this to be done to avoid a chaotic situation and total repression, and to re-establish dialogue for an honest search for peace," the monarch urged.

In this regard, he advocated for the Mobile World Congress as a space to remember that technology can serve to generate peace: "Technology must always be part of an ethical framework: serving as a tool not for division, but for connection, not for exclusion, but for development, and not for confrontation, but for peace," he determined.

For his part, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, also focused on international events, which he described as a moment of "crossroads", of "war or peace", and asserted that Spain "has always fled from violence and the violation of human rights". "Yesterday two countries attacked Iran unilaterally without international approval, they attacked a totalitarian regime that violates women's rights; but all this violates international law," the president asserted. "It is not that the end justifies the means, it is that these means can evoke a worse future for us. And that is why today it is more important than ever to remember that one can be against a regime like Iran's, and be against a war initiated outside the UN's limits and without respecting international law," Sánchez pointed out.

The President of the Government, Salvador Illa, referred to the conflict in the Middle East in the same vein: "The Government of Catalonia joins the call for de-escalation of the conflict; we are living through turbulent and desperate times, and we cannot tolerate any more wars, conflicts, and violence.

20 years of Mobile in Barcelona

All speakers mentioned the changes experienced in society – especially in terms of technology – since the first MWC in Barcelona in 2006 until now, during which society has been changing as connectivity and ways of relating have evolved. The MWC of 20 years ago was "much smaller", and focused on the product, the phones of the past. Shortly after, there was the leap to mobile phones with touch screens, and then the leap to connectivity. First 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G and now towards 6G... all this while governments continue to seek the ethical limits of AI and the internet, a point that Pedro Sánchez also reinforced at this dinner, where he defended his intention to ban social networks for minors under 16 years of age. "We are in a moment of unprecedented transformation, but it depends on us whether this transformation is for the better," Sánchez urged. The King was received by the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and ministers Óscar López and Jordi Hereu. Also the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni; the Government delegate, Carlos Prieto, and the president of the Barcelona Provincial Council, Lluïsa Moret, while the President of the Parliament, Josep Rull, waited inside the venue and did not participate in the official greeting.The King also greeted the chairman of GSMA, Gopal Vittal; the vice-president of GSMA, Ralph Mupita, and the president of Fira de Barcelona, Pau Relat. He also greeted the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Spain, José Luis Bonet; the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona, Josep Santacreu; the general director of Fira de Barcelona, Constantí Serrallonga, and the general director of MWCapital Barcelona, Francesc Fajula, among others.