“Marca España”: development of Spanish government policy on the implementation of “soft power”

The article is devoted to the study of the concept of “soft power” in the foreign policy of the Kingdom of Spain. It analyzes the development of its national interpretation, the nature of Spanish “soft power” and the implementation of the “Marca España” state project in 2012–2018. The main objective of the project was creating an attractive image of the country in the world so as to provide the state with more influence in international relations. The particular attention is paid to the investigations of Spanish foreign policy by the research centers, which were involved in the theoretical and practical development of the project, mainly to the role of the Elcano Royal Institute. Within the framework of “Marca España”, some series of programmes were initialized in the analyzed period, and the public position of the High Commissioner for “Marca España” was created. His duties included coordinating the activities of governmental and non-governmental structures in order to assure maintenance of a positive national brand and its effective promotion in the world. As a result of the study, key successes achieved by the programme were identified, as well as the reasons for its replacement in 2018 with a new project named “España Global”. The authors conclude that despite a series of flaws, the project “Marca España” proved to be an important step towards improving the Spain’s national management system.

1. Anikeeva, N.E. (2015), Foreign Policy Activities of the Government of M. Rajoy, Iberoamerikanskie tetradi, no. 1, pp. 23-30.

2. Borzova, A.Yu. and Kuzevanov, I.S. (2014), “The role of Spain in developing dialogue between the EU and Latin American countries within the framework of the EULAC Summits”, Vestnik RUDN, “International relations” Series, no. 1, pp. 41-57.

3. Kosyak, E.V. (2015), The conceptual framework and priorities of Spain’s foreign policy in the context of the formation of a polycentric system of international relations (2000–2014), Ph.D. dissertation, Moscow, Russia.

4. Noya, J.(2005), El poder simbólico de las naciones, Real Instituto Elcano, Madrid, Spain.

5. Nye, J. (2004), Soft Power, The Means to Success in World Politics, Public Affairs, New York, USA.

6. Ramiro, P.(2014), Marca España. ¿A quién beneficia? Icaria, Barcelona, Spain.

7. Saenz-Francés San Baldomero, E. (ed.) (2014), Diplomacia Pública y Marca España. + Public diplomacy and Spain Brand, Comillas Journal of International Relations, Madrid, Spain.

8. Soriano, M.R.T. (2005), El poder blando: ¿una alternativa a la fuerza militar?, Política y Estrategia, no. 100, pp. 1-14.

9. Yakovlev, P.P. (2014), “Spain’s economic diplomacy: the role of ‘soft power’ ”, in Medvedeva, T.A., Pigareva, T.I. and Taiar, V.M. (eds.), Yazyk kak ekonomicheskii I politicheskii factor mezhdunarodnykh otnosheni [Language as an economic and political factor in international relations], ILA RAS, Moscow, Russia, pp. 92-96.