President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

President of the ICD Advisory Board

Prime Minister of Spain (2004-11)

President Message

"The main task of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy is peace. It is dialogue. It is the relationship between peoples, cultures and civilizations. It is making each and every one of us the main character of our time. To make this time the time for understanding and tolerance. I would like today to encourage everyone who works or has worked or is in some way linked to the ICD to keep making a common and joint effort so that religion does not divide us; so that flags don’t divide us; so that different civilizations don’t divide us; so that diversity joins us. Let us walk in the belief of progress, the progress of civilization, the progress of reason. For that, diplomacy, common understanding, and culture are the best tools that mankind has given itself.

Thank you very much, and much encouragement."