ECFR: Shaping Europe's foreign policy through research and unity

How ECFR Madrid bridges Spain's voice with Europe's foreign policy debates

The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank founded in 2007, with offices in Berlin, London, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Sofia, and Warsaw. ECFR's core mission is to strengthen European foreign policy in line with European principles, values, and interests, while revitalizing the broader European project by bridging diverse national perspectives and differences. This goal takes on heightened urgency amid the rise of populism, Euroscepticism, isolationism, and conflicts beyond Europe's borders. The organization operates through a Council of over 200 prominent European figures, multiple research programs, and its national offices.

ECFR engages in dynamic advocacy through policy reports, media outreach, social networks, and public opinion engagement, as well as private diplomacy, fostering a platform for informed and critical debate. It cultivates a pan-European strategic community, focusing on priorities such as the refugee crisis, Middle East peace efforts, Eastern Europe and Russia, and Europe's role in Asia.

The ECFR Madrid office was established in late 2007 with the support of Diego Hidalgo, a philanthropist, ECFR co-founder, and President of FRIDE, under the leadership of José Ignacio Torreblanca. ECFR Madrid is a nonprofit organization aiming to serve as Spain's leading pan-European platform. Its founding objectives include promoting the democratic values of peace, development, solidarity, and human rights as enshrined in the EU Treaty; acting as a hub for informed debate and analysis; and advocating—from Spain—for a stronger, more coherent European foreign policy aligned with these principles and interests, as well as a more European Spain within the necessary renewal of the broader European project.

ECFR Madrid maintains a strong media and social media presence, organizing high-quality, dynamic events—often in collaboration with other civil society organizations—to explore pressing contemporary challenges, from refugee crises and shifts in North Africa and the Middle East to Ukraine and Europe's own internal struggles.

Since July 2, 2015, ECFR's Spanish office has been registered in the National Association Registry as the "European Council on Foreign Relations Association" (number 607963), with Diego Hidalgo, Cristina Manzano, and José Ignacio Torreblanca as its founding members.