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Though a meeting with President Joe Biden is not on his schedule, Spain鈥檚 Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is visiting the United States to meet with potential investors to sell them on the country’s vision of becoming a sustainable and progressive leader in Europe.

Upon landing in New York, Sanchez said in a Reuters Newsmaker interview that he planned to visit business leaders in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley in hopes of convincing them to invest in Spain鈥檚 post-pandemic economic recovery.

Sanchez said he wants to raise $500 billion in private investments, which would be used to 鈥渢ransform and modernize鈥� Spain鈥檚 technological infrastructure and hasten the country鈥檚 adoption of green policy initiatives 鈥� from renewable energy, electric cars, and charging stations to energy-efficient buildings, emission-friendly agriculture, and country-wide expansion of 5G.

鈥淪pain is establishing a roadmap for recovery,鈥� Sanchez told Reuters Newsmaker. 鈥淰accination means economic rebound, but we have to understand that we cannot do the same thing as we did before the pandemic. We need to modernize our economy, and that is why I am here to talk to investors.鈥� Meetings with Blackrock, Netflix, and Zoom are planned, he acknowledged, as is a tour of Apple鈥檚 headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.

A progressive political vision

A secondary purpose of Sanchez鈥檚 visit is to persuade American business leaders 鈥� and perhaps other world leaders 鈥� that his progressive socialist government has the political vision and will to meet this pivotal moment in world history. In addition to the U.S. investment dollars he hopes to attract, Sanchez noted that the European Union will funnel $162 billion to Spain over the next six years, 48% of which will be devoted to Spain鈥檚 ecological transition; 28% to digitization and technology; 10% to innovation; and roughly 7% to educational reform and vocational training.

This degree of spending in so many critical sectors of Spanish society will no doubt be presented to U.S. investors as an historic opportunity. 鈥淲e are entering in Spain a period of intense reform, the pace of which we haven鈥檛 seen since the beginning of our democracy [in the 1970s],鈥� Sanchez proudly proclaimed. Though Spain was hit early and hard by the pandemic, resulting in a 10.8% drop in GDP last year, Sanchez said the Spanish economy grew 2.5% last quarter and is projected to grow at a rate of 6% to 7% for the next couple of years.

In addition to a detailed framework for reform, Spain also has more economic momentum than most other countries, Sanchez added, because 鈥渨e don鈥檛 have a vaccination rejection movement in Spain鈥� 鈥� an obvious dig at some U.S. citizens who refuse to get vaccinated. Spain鈥檚 high degree of civic cooperation means 70% of the Spanish population will be vaccinated by the end of August, Sanchez said, adding that the country will begin vaccinating its youth very soon as well.

Opportunities in Spain

In his pitch to investors, Sanchez must walk a fine line between presenting Spain as a country that is simultaneously at the forefront of post-pandemic economic recovery and in urgent need of investment in technology, infrastructure, and education. For investors, the 鈥渙pportunity鈥� here is to help Spain accelerate its digital transformation and seed business opportunities that could be expanded to other parts of the world. 鈥淭he U.S. understands the potential role we could play in Latin America,鈥� Sanchez said, 鈥渘ot only in Cuba but in Venezuela, Argentina, and Mexico.鈥�

And while the purpose of his trip is to woo U.S. investors, Sanchez is also taking this opportunity to speak to the rest of the developed world about the importance of aggressively addressing climate change, an issue on which he has staked his entire political future. 鈥淭he fact is, climate change is with us, so we have to adapt and mitigate climate change鈥檚 effects,鈥� Sanchez explained.

After rattling off a familiar list of green initiatives that progressives have been pushing for years, Sanchez also acknowledged that not everyone in the world is sold on such a rapid transformation of society, even though he clearly thinks they should be. 鈥淚t鈥檚 key that this transition has an inclusive perspective, not an elitist perspective,鈥� Sanchez said, adding that 鈥渋t鈥檚 important not to fear this transition, but to see that digitalization could create a very positive means to guarantee major prosperity for all.鈥�

A noble sentiment, to be sure, but one that runs headlong into such controversial ideas as the that the European Union plans to implement by 2026. Sanchez supports the border tax, saying 鈥渋t鈥檚 a matter of having a level playing field鈥� for commerce with countries that aren鈥檛 quite so concerned about their carbon emissions. But Sanchez also recognizes that a carbon tax could raise prices for gas and other commodities in the European Union, and said European leaders should consider subsidizing low-income people to prevent the carbon tax from exacerbating inequality.

The pitch for carbon-neutral socialism

In the U.S., Sanchez鈥檚 basic sales pitch to investors is 鈥渋f you scratch our back now, we鈥檒l scratch yours 鈥� later.鈥� It remains to be seen how successful that pitch will be, but Sanchez is a charismatic leader who knows how to sell Spain鈥檚 version of carbon-neutral socialism to progressive-minded capitalists.

鈥淲e have the framework and public funds and political will鈥� to help lead Europe and the rest of the world into the post-pandemic future, Sanchez insisted. He also intimated that his country鈥檚 early pandemic struggles have made it better prepared than other countries to take on a leadership role in the post-pandemic world. 鈥淪pain showed during the pandemic a strong resilience, a strong capability to adapt ourselves to this new age that we are entering after the pandemic.鈥�

Of course, those capabilities will be a lot stronger if Sanchez can persuade investors to give him $500 billion.

California, here he comes.