Top Spanish delegation meets Syria's new administration's leader in Damascus

By Ahmed Asmar

Syria's new administration leader Ahmed al-Sharaa met in Damascus on Thursday with a high-level delegation from Spain, the first official meeting between the two nations since last month’s fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, al-Sharaa received Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares and his accompanying delegation.

There were no further details about the content of the meeting.

In recent weeks, several top European delegations, including from France and Germany, paid official visits to Damascus and had their contacts with the Syrian new administration.

According to a previous statement by the Spanish Foreign Ministry, a symbolic visit to Sednaya Prison in Damascus is planned by the minister to honor victims of repression under the Assad regime.

Additionally, Albares will visit the Spanish Embassy in Syria to preside over the raising of Spain’s flag, which has not flown since the departure of the Spanish ambassador in 2012.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party’s regime, which had been in power since 1963.