President Obama applauds Spain's reforms

The Obamas with Prime Minister Rajoy at the White House

After visiting the White House this week, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will have been rather pleased to have left the hour-long meeting with the glowing endorsement of none other than Barack Obama ringing in his ears.

The meeting between the two premiers was a chance for Rajoy to show a sceptical world that Spain can still be taken seriously on the global stage, while for Obama it was a chance to display his knowledge of foreign affairs, praising Rajoy’s leadership in introducing a raft of economic reforms that he said were “unpopular but necessary”…Obama’s praise for Rajoy was measured, but he did acknowledge that the Prime Minister had taken office at an incredibly difficult time – right in the midst of one of the worst economic crises in living memory.

Adding that “thanks to your great leadership” Spain was able to yank itself clear of recession, Obama warned that job creation remains Spain’s biggest challenge, drawing parallels to his own experience in steering the US economy away from the brink of economic collapse and boosting the job market.

Obama also played Devil’s Advocate in hinting that other European countries running a fiscal surplus (a thinly veiled dig in the ribs for Germany) should “do more to stimulate demand” – words that are sure to have justified Rajoy’s decision to press ahead with Spain’s painful reforms from within, rather than having to rely on further EU bailout funds.

After two years in the making, Rajoy exited the meeting in good spirits. Previous attempts to connect the two leaders had stalled after former US ambassador to Spain, Alan Solomont, dragged his heels in the belief that the recent party corruption scandal would see off Rajoy.

Evidently, his calculations were wrong. After almost two years of incessant recession, Spain’s economy is on an even keel once more – something that has not escaped the attention of the world’s most powerful man.