The official visit by the president of the Spanish senate is the first of three such visits to take place during the parliamentary summer session. The presidents of the parliament of the Republic of Moldova and of the national assembly of Djibouti will also pay official visits to Bern.

​Mr Pío García-Escudero Márquez, President of the Spanish senate, will be in Switzerland from 30 May to 1 June, accompanied by a delegation of senior officials from the Spanish senate. Mr Ivo Bischofberger (CVP/AI), President of the Council of States, will receive them officially on 31 May. During its visit the Spanish delegation will also hold talks with Jürg Stahl (SVP/ZH), President of the National Council, and with other members of the Federal Assembly on current issues and on relations between the two countries. A courtesy visit is also planned to Alain Berset, Vice President of the Federal Council. On 1 June Mr García-Escudero Márquez will visit the Centre professionnel du Littoral neuchâtelois (CPLN) in Neuchâtel to learn more about the Swiss system of vocational and professional education and training.

Mr Adrian Candu, President of the Moldovan parliament, will be welcomed by Mr Stahl on 7 June. In addition to meeting with members of the Federal Assembly, the Moldovan delegation will hold talks with senior officials in the Federal Administration to discuss matters of neutrality and domestic security. A meeting has also been scheduled with Manuel Sager, Director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). In 2016 the then president of the National Council, Ms Christa Markwalder, was invited as guest of honour and speaker to the festivities in Chisinau marking the 25th anniversary of the Republic of Moldova’s independence.

Mr Mohamed Ali Houmed, President of the National Assembly of Djibouti, will be welcomed to the Swiss parliament by Mr Stahl on 14 June. During his visit, which will focus on Swiss parliamentary procedures and the Swiss system of vocational and professional education, Mr Houmed will also meet members of the Parliamentary Assembly of French-speaking countries (FPA) and the joint Swiss-African Parliamentarian Group. On 15 June Mr Houmed, accompanied by five Djiboutian deputies, will visit the Centre de formation professionnelle Berne francophone (CEFF) and the Hôpital du Jura bernois (HJB), Moutier site, where he will meet apprentices training in a range of fields.