Madrid, Spain, March 5, 2013 - The Minister for Foreign Affairs, José Manuel García-Margallo, says the Marca España is “very strong” and that sport is helping to boost it still further.

At an event held in Madrid by the online newspaper El Confidenial called “Marca España. Value on the rise?”, Spain’s national football coach Vicente del Bosque said that, from a sports perspective, the Marca España “is without any doubt a value on the upswing”. “We are at the forefront of world sports”, said del Bosque, speaking about the country’s current generation of talented and complex-free athletes and sportspeople. “We always used to feel insecure, but I think we’ve beaten that”, he said.

Del Bosque believes that Spain has become an “exporter of talent”, pointing out that over 100 football trainers are working outside the country and many players are competing in the world’s top leagues “because a market has opened up for everything that the Marca España represents”. He said trainers and players who have gone abroad have not done so out of “necessity” but rather because “they were sought after” and “have improved and enriched” Spanish football.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, José Manuel García-Margallo, said that, although the Marca España “isn’t having the best of times at the moment”, sport is a great help in strengthening it. He also added that the Marca España is “essential in order to finance public debt, the main problem facing Spaniards right now”, as well as helping to attract investment and create jobs.

The Minister added that the image of the Marca España, which “combines tradition, history and modernity”, is “relatively good” and highlighted the importance of the country’s cultural heritage and the Spanish language. “This creates a certain awareness of identity, which can have a knock-on effect on important policies”, said García-Margallo. However, he noted that this brand image requires the contribution of “all the players in national life – the Crown, the Armed Forces, aid agencies, the gourmet food industry, cultural institutions and sportspeople”.

García-Margallo said the Marca España “is not a party political project and not a Government or State initiative either. It is a national, long-term project”. “Boosting a brand cannot be a flash in the pan, but rather a large-scale operation with great ambitions”, he concluded.