19 May 2021, Madrid - Secretary of State Dumitru Socolan met with the Secretary of State for Tourism of Spain, Fernando Valdés Verelst, in the context of his official visit to the Spanish capital, dedicated to participation in the International Tourism Fair - FITUR.

During the discussion, the interlocutors pointed out the opportunity to sign in the future a Moldovan-Spanish Memorandum of Cooperation, which will allow the Republic of Moldova to take over the best practices and experiences in the field of tourism industry developed over the years by Spain - currently one of the world leaders in this field.

A separate topic was overcoming the pandemic crisis in the travel industry and reviving tourism, with a focus on increasing safe mobility. The focus was on the implementation of the digital green travel certificate, to be implemented by EU Member States from June. The Spanish official said that his country will officially present the functioning of the Digital Green Certificate on 21 May 2021 at FITUR and advocates accelerating its implementation as soon as possible, participating in the first EU pilot tests with several national tourist destinations.

Fernando Valdés Verelst appreciated the participation of the delegation of the Republic of Moldova at FITUR, noting that for the Government of Spain, this year's international tourism exhibition is a priority in the reactivation of international tourism at a time when vaccination is advancing globally. Dumitru Socolan supported the importance of restarting international tourism and invited the Spanish counterpart to consult Moldova's tourist offer, promoted within the "Be our guest" campaign.