Current Status: Active

The Málaga Film Festival (Festival de Málaga) was established in 1998, organized by the Málaga City Council to promote Spanish cinema and contribute to the development of Málaga, a city on the Mediterranean coast in Andalusia, as a cultural city. The festival showcases feature films, documentaries, and short films in Spanish. In 2024, it became a FIAPF-accredited member (International Federation of Film Producers Associations) as a competitive film festival specializing in Spanish-language cinema. The same year, the festival opened with “Dragonkeeper,” a Spain-China animated co-production produced by the state-owned China Film Group (CFG), China Film Animation (a division of CFG), Movistar Plus+ (Spain’s largest subscription television platform), and the Spanish film production company Atresmedia Cine.

The Communist Party of Spain (Partido Comunista de España), or PCE, was founded on November 14, 1921, following a split in the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party. Headquartered in Madrid, the Marxist-Leninist party maintains the monthly publication Mundo Obrero and operates the Communist Youth Union of Spain. The party played a central role during the Spanish Civil War and currently holds seven seats in the Spanish Congress of Deputies as part of the United Left coalition. President José Luis Centella, former General Secretary from 2009-2018, who assumed the presidency around 2018, has been prominently featured in Chinese state media. Centella has made multiple visits to China, meeting with Communist Party of China officials and speaking at CCP-organized forums.  

The Spain-China Friendship Association (Asociación de Amistad España-China), also known in Spain as Asociación de Amigos de China, was founded in 1987 and is based in Madrid. It presents itself as a nongovernmental organization promoting cooperation between Spain and China. They facilitate exchanges between Chinese and Spanish delegations and organize cultural activities in both countries. On its website, the association says that its Chinese counterpart is the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries or CPAFFC (中國人民對外友好協會), as an “organization integrated into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China” that has been its counterpart since its founding, carrying out “intense activities” extending to China’s provinces and municipalities. CPAFFC, established in May 1954, serves as a key conduit for establishing links with foreign individuals and organizations favorable to the CCP leadership’s agendas.” Current president Antonio Miguel Carmona, a macroeconomics professor, has met with Chinese Ambassador to Spain Yao Jing (姚敬) and, in September 2023, was received by the vice governor of Hebei province and the vice president of the Shanghai People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.