Credit: Rodrigo Branco

The Spanish Embassy provided the perfect backdrop for the BritishSpanish Society’s summer reception. It was a wonderful evening of friendship and fun, and fantastic to experience being together once again.

We have a long ‘thank you’ list, to the many people who contributed to the success of the evening. Firstly to you, our members. We are so grateful for your continued support of the Society’s mission to bring together the people of Britain and Spain, and are delighted that so many of you were able to attend not just tonight’s event but our recent wine tasting events in both London and Madrid, our visit to the Wallace Collection, flamenco dance class and picnic gathering. We look forward to our next event on June 24, a special guided visit to Kew Gardens.

Credit: Rodrigo Branco

We hope that by offering a variety of events we can create opportunities to come together and explore our many varied interests. Many of you spoke with our team last night to share your reasons for joining the BritishSpanish Society and the events you have enjoyed or hope to enjoy – please continue to share your ideas and your feedback with us. For the many friends (non-members) who asked us last night how to join, here is the link to sign up.

A very special thank you to our Honorary President, the Spanish Ambassador to the UK HE José Pascual Marco, for hosting us in his beautiful residence and to him and his team for welcoming us so warmly. In his speech the Ambassador spoke of his desire to continue to support our collective and individual efforts to develop relations between Britain and Spain, including a special mention of the BritishSpanish Society’s scholarship programme. Of the evening, amongst his many positive comments was the simple phrase, “fue un placer”.

In her speech, Paloma Martín, Minister of the Environment, Housing and Agriculture for the Comunidad de Madrid, emphasised the influence and success of Spain’s gastronomy, listing just a few of the many products grown in and exported from Spain and highlighting Madrid’s impressive 21 Michelin starred restaurants. With such a reminder of the rich tapestry of Spanish food the bar was set high for our sponsors and caterers for the evening ACYRE, and they did not disappoint. Prepared by 10 of the best madrileño chefs and winners of prestigious gastronomic competitions, more than 50 ingredients of M Producto Certificado were showcased across an extensive menu of award-winning cheeses, mouth-watering jamón iberico and an endless supply of traditional and reinterpreted tapas. Combined with DO wines from Vinos de Madrid, and a (thankfully) balmy summer evening we almost felt transported to Spain for the night!

Credit: Rodrigo Branco

Once again, our thanks are offered to regular event sponsors Codorniu and MahouSanMiguel. Their continued support for the Society ensures that we are always greeted with high-quality Cava, beers and water.

It also seems appropriate on the back of such a successful celebration to thank our Chairman Jimmy Burns for his commitment to the Society and its absolute mission to bring together the education, culture, people and languages of Britain and Spain, our Patrons, Trustees, Executive Council and Administrative support for enabling the work of the Society. Plus a special thank you to Honorary Vice-President, HMG’s Ambassador to Spain Hugh Elliott and institutional partners Instituto Cervantes , British Council and Universidad Pontifica de Comillas.

Final thanks to the growing list of businesses and establishments who support the charity in many different ways: Codorniu, Embassy of Spain London, Esparity Solar, MahouSanMiguel, Allen & Overy, bsi., cellnex, Contasult, Gomez-Acebo & Pombo, Runnymede College, Stonyhurst, Hispania and finally to our Principal supporters, many of whom sent representatives to join us last night, for their support of our sponsorship programme: BBVA, Cañada Blanch Fundación, Cuatrecasas, Plastic Energy and Santander Universities.