German Chancellor Scholz heads to Spain to discuss pandemic

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to travel to Spain on Monday for talks about handling the pandemic, in his first trip abroad of the year.

Scholz is due to meet Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for talks and lunch, with the two expected to address energy prices and migration, alongside health policy. The ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine may be a further issue on the agenda.

Politically, the two are relatively close, and the visit could offer Sanchez opportunities for future alliances, according to El Pais newspaper.

Since taking office, Scholz has already travelled to France, Poland and Italy, and has also made trips to the European Union and NATO.

Spain, the fourth largest EU country by population, is not a member of the G7 group of leading industrial nations, but is a permanent guest at G20 summits.

Pandemic

In terms of combatting the pandemic, Spain has a higher vaccination rate than Germany, with at least 85 per cent of Spaniards having had at least one shot, compared to 75 per cent of Germans.

While German officials are now weighing whether to make vaccination mandatory, there is no such debate in Spain.

Sanchez is now focused on ways for Spain to deal with the coronavirus as endemic and treat it like flu.