“Recession is over,” king tells prospective investors in Abu Dhabi

King Juan Carlos on Monday told a group of political and business leaders in the United Arab Emirates that Spain is no longer being dragged down by the recession.

Leading a delegation of Spanish businessmen in search of investment opportunities, the king thanked Arab leaders for not losing faith in Spain’s economy.

“Our country has suffered from a crisis caused by painful job losses. But today we have emerged from the recession, foreign capital is returning to Spain with strength, and the Spanish economy is again growing and creating jobs,” the monarch said during the first Spanish-Arab Emirates business meeting to be held in Abu Dhabi.

Spanish companies have signed important defense, infrastructure and utility contracts in UAE, and now other firms are looking for similar opportunities, the king said.

Among those who made the trip were Florentino Pérez of construction firm ACS; Javier Monzón, from IT giant Indra; and José Manuel Revuelta, from shipbuilder Navantia. Only two women were seated at the honorary table: Public Works Minister Ana Pastor and FCC president Esther Alcocer Koplowitz.