Good morning, everyone, and welcome here to CSIS. My name is Carl Meacham, and I am the director of the America's program here. And I am really excited to have the minister, Jesús Gracia Aldaz, with us today, the Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation and for Ibero-America, to chat about the changing dynamics of the relationship between Latin American countries and Spain. Prior to his current post, Mr. Gracia served as technical cooperation adviser at the Embassy of Spain in Costa Rica. He was also the consul general in Córdoba, Argentina, and the chief of staff of the vice president of the Institute for Ibero-American Cooperation. On May 1996, he was appointed director general of the Institute for Ibero-American Cooperation, a post he held until November 1999. In 2001, he was appointed ambassador of Spain to Cuba, a post he held until 2004. And after a period in the private sector, his last diplomatic post before being appointed secretary of state for international cooperation and for Ibero-American 2012 was that of minister at council at the Embassy of Spain in Buenos Aires. So needless to say, the secretary is very, very competent and very, very qualified and has done some amazing, I was going to say awesome, I've been with my kids for the last two weeks, an amazing job for Spain. So I couldn't be happier to have him with us today. Before turning the floor over to the secretary, I just want to give you a sense or to the minister, I just want to give you a sense of how Spain's relationship with countries in Latin America has begun to shift over the past couple of years. As you all know, Spain and Latin America have a long history and a lot in common. Their shared history and culture have historically served as the foundation for their political and economic ties and traditionally those ties have been largely driven by Spain's interests. What we've seen in recent years, though, is a notable shift in that dynamic. As Latin American countries have developed tremendously over the past decade, they are increasingly asserting themselves in their relations abroad. They are, in short, better positioned, many are better positioned than ever before to take on their partners abroad as equal players. And those changes are reflected in the numbers. Over the past year alone, Latin America increased its investment in Spain by 48%. As business here in the Americas came to view Spain as a rational way to expand and diversify, particularly given their shared language and the potential for entry into the European Union's market. What has traditionally been a one-way investment flow has developed into a much more reciprocal relationship. And Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and former King Juan Carlos both acknowledged this shift, even encouraging Latin American countries to invest more in Spain. And migration patterns are shifting too. And perhaps this isn't surprising given Spain's economic situation, even though we could say that it's rebounding, and high economic growth rates in Latin America. The past five years have seen a 400% increase in Spanish immigrants to Latin America. And the same period, Spain saw a 61% reduction in Latin Americans applying for residency visas. So, however, whichever way you look at it, dynamics are shifting. Hopefully today's event will help to shed some light on these changes and on the redefinition of these transatlantic relationships. We'll touch on Spain's priorities in the region, the relationship with the United States in working with Latin America, as well as its vision moving forward with these partners in Latin America. Before I start, or before we start, I want to remind you all that today's event is on the record and that we're webcasting the proceedings live to our audience online. When we get to the Q&A portion, I would ask that you wait for a member of my staff to get to you with the microphone, that you be brief in your question, or if you have something short that you want to share with the rest of the audience. With that, Mr. Gracia, I turn the floor over to you. I welcome you. We're very happy to have you, and the floor is yours. See? From here. Perfect. Thank you, and thank you, CSIS, for giving me this opportunity to talk to you this morning and to share with you some ideas about the importance that Spain gives to its relation with Latin America. Our king, Felipe Sexto, and then Crown Prince Philip, two years ago, said at a speech in Harvard that Spain is an American nation. An American nation in the whole sense of America, not only Latin America, but also including the United States, because our history, our shared history with America dates back for more than 500 years. We have been present in the region since that time with an increasing interest in the region. We have shared 300 years of common kingdom. Sometimes people speak about the colonial times, and in fact it was never a colony. The part of Latin America or the America were part of the kingdom, and we sent here vise kings or vise reyes, and these were vise kingdoms, and this was part of Spain. And that's something important to understand, that this is not only a part or a geographical interest or priority of our foreign relations, it's part of our own being. If we want to understand Spain, we have to understand this with the American dimension. And on the other hand, if you want to understand especially Latin America, but also part of the American history, you have to take into account this part of shared history with Spain, the Spanish roots, the Spanish missions in California. We are going to celebrate next year the foundation of the first city in North America, San Agustín. We celebrated last year the 500 years of the arrival of Ponce de León at Florida, and so many ties that have kept us together for so many years. So I think this is true. We are an American nation. It's an American nation. We have different interests. We are part of Europe, of course. And our history also and our geography brings us to Europe. And the first important endeavor of democratic Spain after King Juan Carlos took office and was crowned in 1975 was our interest in being fully part of the European Union. And that's something that with the contribution of all the political parties in the Spanish society, we got in 1985 and we are members of the European Union since that date. And this has brought to Spain prosperity and this has brought sound democracy. And this has brought also the capacity to act in the world. And once we reach this European dimension that was something that was due to Spain because of geography and culture and because of our ambition, we had to build also our Latin America dimension. And this Latin American dimension has always existed along the years. And if you look back in the 19th century or in the 20th century, even under Franco's times, at the times of the dictatorship in Spain, there was a huge relationship based at that time in language and culture. There is a lot of institutes, institutes of Hispanic culture all over Latin America. And there was a relationship also based on migration. When Spain was in trouble, when we had some difficulties in our labor market at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, well, the natural way to escape these hardships in Spain was traveling to Latin America. So there are huge and very important colonies of Spaniards in all Latin American countries. It's much more important the migrations that took place in the 19th and 20th century from Spain to Latin America than the ones that took place under the vice kingdoms or under the time that we were part of Latin America, was part of the Spanish kingdom. So this has been a tradition and a way of acting in the world. And after that, when we had the capacity to act in a more important way or in a more confident way in the world, when Spain was to open to the world, first, as I said, we had to go to Europe, we had to be part of Europe. But the second dimension, the second priority for us was to work in Latin America. And if you see in the last 35 years, 40 years since our constitution in 1978, we have built a network of interests with all Latin American countries that I think that is not equal to any country in the world except probably the United States. We are present at all levels of Latin America society, of all levels of Latin America life, everyday life. First we started with a political engagement and in this part I want to highlight the role of King Juan Carlos. He was the first king to travel to Latin America in spite of 300 years of common government in the old times. No king from Spain had traveled to Latin America. In 1976 he traveled to, I was the king of Spain, to the Dominican Republic and the then-president said, Majesty, we have been waiting for you for 500 years. Finally, you arrived. But he played an important role in the linkage between Latin America and Spain. And he's traveled around Latin America all to all countries and he's built a network of interests and also a network of friendship all around Latin America. Second, we had a success story, the story of Spanish transition. And this is something that has been very useful to most Latin American countries. I used to say that the idea of people of my generation in Spain of Latin America is a Latin America that has been striving to get out of poverty or to improve their quality of life and the quality of democracy in most of the countries. But this is because of the decay of Latin America in the 70s and the 80s especially. And this wasn't true in the 40s and in the 50s and previously. But what we found when Spain reached democracy and when Spain reached prosperity through our partnership in the European Union, we found in Latin America that was suffering in many cases lack of democracy, that was suffering also tremendous difficulties in their economies. So the idea of engaging again with Latin America became natural to engage in political terms. And the Spanish transition served as a model for many Latin American countries. And we were the solidarity of Spain with most countries, especially in South America, Chile, Argentina, Peru, many of the countries that were suffering dictatorships at that time. They benefited from the solidarity and from the support of the Spanish governments all along these years. Second, we had also the idea of solidarity. And when Spain joined the European Union, we were obliged also as a European country to share part of our welfare and of our riches with other parts of the world. And naturally, from Spain, our idea from past governments and governments of the two main parties in Spain, Popular Party and Socialist Party, we all agreed that we had to start with Latin America, especially Central America. But many countries in Latin America have benefited from the solidarity of the Spanish people. So we established a network of development cooperation in Latin America in most countries. And I think that it's been quite successful. We have been present at the transitions in Central America, the end of wars, of civil wars in Latin America. We have been working with the military, with the security forces, with social programs all over Latin America. But also in bigger countries such as Peru, I think that Peru is one of the most successful countries now in Latin America. But it was a country that in the 80s was about to disappear. It was almost a failed state in the late 70s and in the 80s. And people said, what can we do in Peru? There is terrorism by sending the shining path, which was outrageous. There was inflation, there was a wreck of finances. All you could see in Peru was difficulties and hopeless. And we have been active in our cooperation with Peru since the 1980s. And we have been accompanying Peru and the different Peruvian governments all along these years. And now that Peru is attracting capital, that is a country that is reducing the inequalities. It's a country that is, I think, is a good example in most of the world. I think that we can be proud that we have been, we were not the main force in the change in Peru. But we have been, together with Peru, we have been accompanying Peru in this path towards a better life. So solidarity, development cooperation has been also an important part of the engagement of Spain with Latin America. And the third idea on this engagement has been investment. When in 1988, 89, Spain was already part of the European Union. We had benefited from the good governance and from the solidarity of our friends from other parts of Europe. We had a very small private sector, mainly coming from a public sector that was under way of privatization in most fields of the economy. And Spanish companies felt the need to expand. They had the European market open, which was very beneficial for us. But we had to expand. My first post as a diplomat was in Costa Rica in 1988, and I was envious of the Dutch or of the Belgians, because even they were small countries. They have multinationals. You could see Philips or you could see the Heineken or many brands that were well-known brands. And we didn't have any. And now, 20, 25 years later, you can see, you go to Sao Paolo, you see Santander, you see Telefonica, you see Verdrola, you see most of the companies that are relevant in the important sectors of the Latin America economy come from Spain and are now part of what we call multilatinas or multibericas. They are multinationals that are the result of the cooperation between Latin America and Spain. So, the investment in Spain has been very important, has been huge, and has been relevant to the Spanish development in recent years, but also for Latin American countries. We have invested more than €150 billion all over these years, that is the stock of investment in Latin America. Half of this investment has gone to Brazil, which is something that is probably striking. The second recipient country has been Mexico, but what is more important? It's been important in reducing the exposition of Spain to a small market such as our Iberian country or to a homogeneous market such as Europe. And we have been able to open our markets and to also diversify our risk in the world. And during the past crisis, economic crisis, it's been very, very important for us to have multinationals or to have important companies all over the world and part of the benefits and part of the help that we needed to recover from the recent crisis came from Latin America and from the results of the Spanish companies in Latin America. So it's been, I think, beneficial for both parties, for Latin America and for Spain. And also we are engaging in political terms with Latin America. We say that we have a family relationship.  And that happens with a family like the Iber-American, Iberian family, the Iber-American family. And our duty, and I think in our interest, is to talk to all the members of the family, to have, to trust them, to try to work with them, because at the end of the day there is solidarity, especially in Latin countries and in countries of Latin origin. We know that the importance of the family is relevant for our welfare. So we talk to all of them. You can get on better with parts of the family, and that's what we do. And I think that we are taking advantage of both countries when we get into this kind of relationship. And I would like to highlight the important, the good relationship that we have now with Mexico, which is important, because when I joined the diplomatic career, it was very difficult for us, the dialogue with Mexico. They came from many years of distrust on Spain, or on the dictatorship, because they were the siege, or they were the headquarters for the remains of the Spanish Republic. So they brought a lot of difficulties in their relationship with new governments in Spain. So we had to renew our political relationship. Mexico is one of the big countries in Latin America, like Peru and the others, but they have a strong pre-Columbian roots that are important in their history and that are important also in the imaginary and the world vision that they have. And they had some kind of, and they are the biggest Spanish-speaking countries, so they were competing with us in terms of language also. But I think that I'm very, very happy that we have managed to bring all of these possible difficulties into a common interest. In the recent trip of President Peña Nieto to Madrid some weeks ago, I'm sure it's been successful for Mexico and for Spain, and we have built a relationship based on trust and on a common interest that I think is valuable for both parties. So this is the network of relations that we have in Latin America. And just to summarize, we had the idea, and King Juan Carlos was one of the driving forces in this idea to establish this family community that we call the Ibero-American summits. And this is something that has been one wonderful invention of policy of foreign relations, because it's been working very well since 1991. The first summit took place in Mexico in Guadalajara, and it's gone to the next summit that will take place this year in Veracruz and in Mexico again. And this will close an era of Ibero-American summits that have allowed Latin American or Ibero-American countries to join when there were great, deep disagreements among most of the countries in Latin America, but we have been able to talk together and to find a common interest within the Ibero-American summit. After Veracruz, we'll have these summits every two years, and I think that we'll have the renewal of the Ibero-American summits that will be also beneficial for us. And I wanted to tell you that that's why Latin America is so important for us. I was telling Carl before we came here, down here, that some touchy issues or Latin American issues are internal affairs in Spain. So when we talk about foreign policy in Latin America, this has a lot of reflect in internal politics in Spain. There is division also on the views on some topics in Latin America, but this is because this is part of our interest and our sentiments, our feelings and how we feel Latin America. So we cannot be dealing with Latin America as we deal with the foreign region. We deal with Latin America as part of our own being and part of our own future. Well, thank you for your opening. You've talked, and there's so many similarities with that last point that you made. For the United States, a lot of the issues that have to do with Latin America also are domestic implications, and we're seeing some of that right now with the immigration issue. We've seen it in the past with Cuba and Florida and electoral votes and different constituencies that you see, Hispanic constituencies that you see in the United States and their participation in different areas. But you talked a lot about the priorities that Spain has in the region. The region is a very diverse region, as you know, and there's a lot of positive things happening in North America. You have energy and commerce. You have countries coming together like through the Pacific Alliance in a way that they'd never come to before. There's the promise of Brazil as well. I wanted to get from you a sense of what do you see are the challenges and what do you see are the promise that the region holds for Spain? If you're looking forward, I mean, and for most of the people that are sitting here, I think it's an easy question to answer, and I think you've touched on some of it. But going forward with the region as diverse as it is, what are the things that were you and what are the things that you see are opportunities for Spain in the region? The difference in the region will not be an ideological difference, I guess, in the future. It will not be about ideology or about socialism or capitalism. I think the difference will be between reforms and non-reforms. And I think that the region as well as other parts of the world needs to update their institutions, to update the economy, to update the education. And these are the challenges that they will have to face because I spoke from the point of view of Spain, but naturally Spain has interest all over the world and also Latin America will have to compete with the rest of the world, not only with the United States or not only it will be relevant in the relationship with Europe or with Spain. But you have to be prepared to compete in a challenging world. In this competition you may be prepared or not. Latin America has, especially South America, has a huge advantage and they have been taking advantage of this fortune for the last decade because the South Americans, they always tell you they have what the world needs. They have territory, they have water, they have natural resources, they have food. So they have a lot of opportunities to be a great part of the world and also to be a leader part or leader geographical region of the world. But to be able to implement all these capacities, they need reforms. And I agree with what President Peña Nieto said in the inauguration speech that they wanted to be a reformist country, a reformist government. And they will have to reform as they have done first, education, labor market, economy to be more competitive, telecommunications, energy and infrastructure. All of these lags in Latin America and all of this is something that governments will have to face in a way or another. Each government will have to decide what is the priority in reforms. But if you don't reform, if you don't update, if you don't get in touch with the world, you won't be able to take advantage of these capacities that you have in the region. You talked a little bit about the Iber-American summit. And I guess a lot of people that follow regional affairs see this proliferation of summits and summit processes. That being the OAS, CELAC, UNASURD, you have all of these summits. And I would say that a lot of folks look at those summits with some skepticism and say, you know, these guys get together, what do they achieve? What do they get out of these summits? I can understand how the Iber-American summit can be a framework for Spain getting together with countries in the region. But can you talk a little bit about what is achieved? What makes it special? What do you do in the Iber-American summit? And what do you achieve that's different from these other ones? In Washington speak, what are the deliverables? Yes. First of all, it was the first idea. And at the time of the first Iber-American summit, nobody could imagine that we would join all the Latin American countries, plus Portugal and Spain, and to admit Cuba at that time, which was something striking for many people. So for Cuba, it was very important to be able to have a forum in a friendly or in a familiar way to discuss some issues that were important at that time. And so I think it was first, the importance is that it was the first forum of this kind. Afterwards, Unasur, Mercosur, Selag have arrived. But they are different, so that they can be a forum for political consultation. It's important for Latin American countries to have their own forum, because they say, well, within the summit of the Americas, we have to share the floor with Canada and the United States. And well, we cannot talk freely, and we are not able to do that. Well, now they have this forum through Selag and somehow with Unasur. And we can see that this is important for Latin Americans, because sometimes you need to be or to feel yourself part of something where you are relevant and where you are important. And the Latin American countries have developed a kind of solidarity, original solidarity, not always working, especially when it comes to soccer. Because if you look at the papers today, you will see that there is no compassion for our friends from Brazil in any Latin American country. But there is a kind of solidarity. Not always solidarity is positive, because sometimes when you are so compassionate with someone else, you don't look at the weakness of this person or of this country, and you are not able to help this person in pinpointing what is not working. But solidarity is something that is natural to human nature, and we have to understand this. And Latin Americans may feel comfortable in a forum where they are alone and they feel that they can manage this idea. So I think it's positive for us. And there is no competition with the Iber-American Summit because what we have done along these years is to focus on the points where we are more effective. And we are effective in education, language, culture, and also in business. And I think that to provide space for business. So these are the four ideas that the new Iber-American Summit or the new Iber-American Conference will be focusing in the future. And the new Secretary-General, Rebecca Greenspan, is aware of this, and she's working in these prospects. And I think that if we don't try to take the place of other forums, we can be very effective. And it's a forum where most Latin American countries and Iber-American countries will feel comfortable and will feel deliverables. We are going to present to the presidents in the next summit some deliverables. I just had a meeting this morning with president of IDB, and we have some ideas of deliverables that I will not tell you right now. But things that are very practical in terms of the interests of Latin America and Iber-American and that working together, Europe and Latin America or the Iber-American Peninsula and Latin America, we can be more effective. And before I open it up to questions from the audience, one last question. My colleague, my fellow colleague, my fellow director that does international cooperation and developments here, Dan Runde, and I wanted to sort of ask this question with that in light. So you're here, you visit with our assistant secretary and other members of our government. What areas does the United States and Spain work on together in the region? Are they areas of assistance? What are the areas of security cooperation? What are the areas in which most of our relationship towards the region exist? No, we share information like with many other countries and we have political dialogue with other countries on Latin America because we are involved in Latin America and other governments, such as even Russia or China, are interested on sharing information. But with the United States is a special relationship and I think this is important because I think that we are the two extra-regional countries that share more important interests with the region. We are working together in Central America for many years in the security strategy for Central America. And one of the topics that we talked about in our meeting yesterday was how can we contribute to ease these problems that you are facing now in the modern. And I think that security and development in the region is crucial for this. It's not only to solve the problems that you have at hand immediately, but we have to play a role in the medium and long term. So we are working on security and we are working on development issues in Central America. And I think that we have to find a new look or a new approach to these issues because probably what we have been doing hasn't worked enough. And we have to be effective also in this manner. We have a very close relationship with all Latin American countries, Central American countries. And I think that we can work together with governments to increase the security patterns in Central America and to increase also the capacity of development of the countries in Central America. I'm going to open it up to questions from the audience. I'm going to start from the back to the front. So we're going to try something different. If you could stand up, please. Sure. Thank you very much for your remarks this morning. I hope you'll allow me to delve on a bit narrower of a topic. My name is Sienna Gershenty. I'm with the Neighborhood International. And we've been very encouraged with what we're seeing with the Spanish right of return for Sephardic Jews who have been expelled from Spain. And I was hoping if you might expand on if that is part of a larger strategic policy towards the region and what, if any, impact you foresee in Latin America. Sophie, I didn't, the, ah. La Vuelta. Yeah. Sure. Would you like me to take two or three questions? Yes. Why don't we go with two more? I think there was the lady there. And we're going to come up to Dan up here. Yeah. Hi, hola. My name is Margan from Spain. I work on science diplomacy. And I'm a researcher at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. I research the scientific and technological cooperation between Spain and Latin America with programs like CIDED, for example. And I would like to ask you what is the, how Spain is integrated scientific and technological cooperation with the region in the larger foreign policy strategy, the larger foreign policy goals. Thank you. And we're going to get up here. Yeah. I'm Dan Rondi. I hold the Shrier Chair here. Nice to see you, Secretary. Thanks for being here. I have two brief comments and a question. First comment is I was a student in Spain a long time ago. And it changed my life in a very positive way. And so I know you have many students in Spain. It's an important part of your diplomacy. And so I'm a product of that. And it was a very positive change for me. So thank you for that. But I want to congratulate Spain on the choice of Rebecca Greenspan. I think she's an excellent leader, someone I know well. She was at UNDP before. She's someone who's very inclusive and has a very sophisticated approach to development. And knows everybody in the region. She's the vice president of Costa Rica. So I think that was a very astute choice. And congratulations. I have a lot of hope for the future of the summit process as a result of that. So here's my question related to this issue about security and development. I think there is a shared interest in the peace process in Colombia. And if you could, between the United States and Spain, there was recently election in Colombia. It's both a security challenge. It's a development challenge. How are you, how is Spain thinking about this? I think you can make the case that perhaps we're going to see peace in our time. And so how do we think about helping get to peace in our time? And how do we help make that peace stick? Thanks. Let me just get this woman here. And then we'll start the question. Silvia Yuzo from El País. You were talking before that the Cumbra Veramerican Summit was one of the first for us where Cuba also was invited, and also the privileged relationship Spain has with Latin America, including Cuba. Now the European Union has abandoned the Posición Común, I don't know. And it's restarting, relaunching the relationship. This also comes also in a time where in the US there are increased voices talking about changing the relationship towards Cuba, maybe not lifting the embargo, but opening up the hand. I have a double question on that. Is this something that you have talked with the US in the sense have they asked you how the European Union is changing the position? How could it work? And second, could you imagine yourself as Spain working as a kind of bridge for this kind of change in the US? Thank you. We'll start with us. Take your pick. Well, first, no, just in order. The Sephardize issue is a very sensitive part of our history. I'm sure that we lost part of our capacity, of our intellectual capacity in the past when the Sephardize were expelled from Spain. So there's been also always a sense of duty towards this community. And recently we passed a law to facilitate the acquisition of the citizenship of these people. We have recently passed this law in Spain. This will work through the Spanish requirements to gain citizenship. We have to be sure that these people belong to the Sephardize community, that they have any attachment to Spain, and that they are interested in renew their ties with Spain. And in this case, they will be welcome to Spain as they are now, but this community will be welcome to Spain as national citizens. I think it's something that we had to do and we are happy to have done in collaboration with the Sephardize communities all over the world. Regarding science technology, one of the main ideas of the main grounds of common interest in Latin America and Portugal and Spain is science, technology, education. And we have the opportunity and we have the chance to share two common languages or two very close languages, Portuguese and Spanish. And that we have 500 million people who speak Spanish all over the world, 50 million of them living in the United States. So language is not all. You can work in a third language or in a common language. But it's important also to develop these skills and to develop the capacities for science and technology. So what we are doing with most Latin American countries is to establish new agreements in order to alleviate the problems that we have to circulate, to have the capacity of mobilizing the talent in our community. So this is what we have called the mobilidad de talent or the talent of mobility. So this is something that we are going to bring to the Iber-American Summit. And this has to do with the problems with universities and with university degrees, how you accept university degrees from one country to another. All the barriers that we have in each country in terms of visas, student visas, and so on. So to alleviate also this burden. And also the capacity to develop a career whilst you have your degree accepted in a country. And this has to do with the bars in the case of lawyers or with the communities or the colegios, as we say, of engineers, architects, and so on. So if we take advantage of this opportunity, I think that we will have more capacity built in all around Latin America or Iber-America. And sometimes most of the countries will benefit from this. Regarding the Rebecca Grinspan was not the choice of Spain. Spain was one part of the countries. And she was elected by acclamation. And we were part of this. But I want to stress that all the Latin American countries are great on this. And they were very, very active in supporting the candidacy of Rebecca. Colombia is, I think, a friendly country. We are very happy that they are in this way of this negotiation to end a war that has been hindering the efforts of Colombia and that has caused so much suffering in Colombia for many years. And we are ready. We are available to work with the Colombian government. We have been contributing to Colombia, to the peace efforts in the past. We are part of the OAS mission for peace in Colombia for many years now. We have been developing part of the development cooperation with Colombia in the past years has been in relation with the peace process and with the reunification of the country or the families, et cetera. We are working with the victims of the conflict. And we have been working with them for many years. And what President Rajoy told President Santos recently said, well, we are available. Whatever you need, we'll do our best to contribute to your efforts. But this is something that has to come from Colombia. In this kind of process, there are a lot of people who want to participate in organizations, countries, be it to be on the spot and to be on the lights. But I think that the most important thing is that the country knows the needs and the country must be able to knock on the door, on the right door to look for help. And in this case, Spain will be available for any question, any requirement from Colombia. And finally, the easiest question, Cuba. One of the things that I try to do when I have public speeches or when I talk about Latin America is say, well, finally I managed to talk about Latin America and not to talk about Cuba. Because as former ambassador to Cuba and as a domestic issuer as Cuba is, it's always touchy for us and for our foreign policy. But I will tell you, we are within the European Union. We have started a negotiation with Cuba to see if we are able to agree on a new cooperation agreement between the European Union and Cuba that preserves the ideas that lie behind the common position that we will have to talk about political dialogue, about political participation, about human rights. And at the same time, if we find grounds of common interest to look forward and to build a positive engagement with Cuba. And this is the mandate that the European Union has now on behalf of the 28th member states. One of them is Spain. If we find a way of negotiating with the Cuban government and there's been a couple of meetings up to now, we find a way to cooperate in a positive manner and in a positive interest for both parties. I think we'll be happy to go into this agreement. And this is our position within the European Union and with Cuba. I think we have time for, I'm sorry? Will you hold on? Well, I think that this is also a domestic issue in the United States. I had the chance to work with Carlos Saladriga some years ago on the program of Brookings Institution. And we had the chance, I had the opportunity to know the interior shape of US policy towards Cuba, which is very complicated to understand from abroad. This is something that has been built along the years. And it has very specific items that we don't manage in other parts of the world. But I think that the United States is in this discussion, the society, the political community, the government. And I'm sure that they will find a way to work with Cuba. I know that the US and Cuba hold meetings and they talk to Cuba in several aspects that are of common interest. And I'm sure that they will find a way of solving this. I think we have time for maybe one or two more questions. Sir? Just get a microphone. Hello, Maximiliano Trujillo from Antonio Burgos and Associates. I wanted to ask a question since you mentioned a couple of times regarding the 50 million of Latino ancestry that live in this country, which will not make us a Latin American country. So not necessarily in your portfolio, but what are the efforts that are being made to harness that to have an investment opportunity in Spain and Spain opening the doors for Europe to the Latino community that is growing here, especially the business community? And as a side note, I know that your foreign minister was in Puerto Rico recently. And Spain can provide some guidance to Puerto Rico, not just how to open Spain, but open Europe, especially considering the circumstances that Puerto Rico is facing right now. Spain going through this similar process, different circumstances, but same feelings of pain and challenges. Maybe you can provide some guidance on that matter as well. Thank you. I think that the force or the importance and the influence of the Hispanic community in the United States is growing and is relevant, especially for the United States. And this country is able to admit, is very flexible at knowing these opportunities and to incorporate these people, these communities in the political game in the United States. So for us, it's very important that 50 million Americans speak Spanish as a mother language or as the original language, and it's something good for us because it's easier to have business with people who speak the same language. And you have a certain common feeling in many aspects. What we are doing is we are respectful of the organization of the United States. And we understand how they are organized and the way they act in this aspect. But we are providing opportunities for the Hispanic leaders in the United States. And we have a program that has allowed us to bring to Spain hundreds of Hispanic leaders to get to know Spain, to get to know the capacities of Spain and the relationship and the possibilities that they have in terms of investment or research or education and so on. So we receive every year a group of Hispanic leaders and there is a network of these Spanish leaders who come to Spain through the Carolina Foundation and I think that this is something positive for all of us. Regarding Puerto Rico, as I say, well, I think that there is investment in Puerto Rico as there is in other states of the United States because there is a lot of investment of Spanish companies in the United States without relation with the origin or with the cultural ties. There are investments in the field of energy that are very important in many states of the United States. And Puerto Rico has enjoyed also part of the investment of Spanish companies, especially in the financial and infrastructure sectors. So Puerto Rico has the capability and the possibility of increasing the investment from Spain and they can do it through their bilateral relation between the United States and Spain and they can come also to Spain as they do in commercial trade and investment missions. So this is nothing different from other parts of the states. Great. I think I'm going to close it, but there was one issue that didn't come up that I'm just going to ask you about, which is how do you see the new king being active in the region? Do you see a continuity from his father or do you think that it will change in any other way? No, no, I'm sure he will continue the work and the efforts of King Juan Carlos because King Felipe has been traveling to the region for many years. Since 1996, he has attended almost every inauguration period in Latin American countries. He knows very well all the politicians in Latin America because he's been the only one who has been present in many countries. Together with Pablo, we had the opportunity to travel with Crown Prince Felipe along these years to many inaugurations and he had the ideas and the memory of things that we didn't know and that even the politicians in the country didn't remember because he had been four previous presidents at that time and he remembered the talks and the problems that the country faced at that time. And he asked, well, how did you solve this problem? Oh, I didn't remember or I didn't know so. So he's really very active. He knows the social community because during these trips to Latin America, he always had a lunch with a group of representatives of the different parts of each society so he knows most of the persons in the cultural sector, in the economy that were his age and they all of them remember very well their conversations with now King Felipe. So he's a person that is extremely well prepared. He's eager to enhance the relationship of Spain with Latin American countries. He knows very well the region and he's also very well known. So I think that we have a bright, brilliant future with King Felipe. Great. And with that, I want to thank Secretary Garcia for coming and speaking here at CSIS at the America's Program. I want to thank you for choosing us. I hope that it was a stimulating session. I think it was excellent. So can you join me in a round of applause?


Hello friends and how are you all today? My name is Priyanka and the question says integrant the following rational functions. Now here the function which is given to us is 2 upon 1 minus x into 1 plus x whole, 1 plus x square.  So on taking the LCM and equating the numerator we have 2 is equal to a 1 plus x square plus bx plus c into 1 minus x let this be the first equation. Now putting value of x equal to 1 in the first equation we get 2 is equal to a 1 plus 1 plus b into 1 plus c 1 minus 1 it will be equal to 0. So we have the value of 2 equal to 2a plus 0 that is the value of a is equal to 1. Now equating the coefficient of x cube and the constant terms on both the sides of equation 1 we get a minus b is equal to 0 that further implies the value of a is equal to value of b the value of a is obtained above as 1 so value of b will also be equal to 1. Also we have equating the constants a plus c is equal to 2 so we have 2 plus c is equal to sorry 1 plus c is equal to 2 that further implies the value of c is equal to 1.  Now the required integrand is 2 upon 1 minus x into 1 plus x square dx is equal to integral of 1 upon 1 minus x plus x plus 1 upon 1 plus x square to dx. Now the required answer will be like this it will be equal to 1 upon 1 minus x dx plus x dx upon 1 plus x square plus dx upon 1 plus x square that is further equal to minus log mod 1 minus x plus 1 upon 2 log 1 plus x square plus the integral of 1 plus x square is tan inverse x plus c so the required answer to the section is minus log mod 1 minus x plus 1 by 2 log mod 1 plus x square plus tan inverse c plus c sorry tan inverse x plus c right so this completes the session hope you understood the whole concept well and have a very nice day.


For the second year in a row, the Belfry Lady Pirates will take the court without a senior. Although being young, the Lady Pirates picked up the 60th district title last year, and they hope to improve on that this season with a more experienced team. I'd like to have a senior night at some point in my career, but I have had these girls what it felt like forever, and they've kind of been part of the system. We've dealt with a lot of injuries, and we've kind of had a little bit of a turnover this season, so we're almost rebuilding again, but our parts are much better, much more cohesive, and the process has happened earlier. We can put a lot of speed on the court this season, and I think we're a little more mature this season than we were last year, even though it's our second year without a senior. We're coming together more each year, and this year we're really playing good together. From last season of this year, we've improved a lot as a team. We're still young, but we matured on the court, and we have high expectations for this year. I figure we've got some nets now. I don't know anything else to say. First we've got to control our fate in district, but when you get to regional tournament, I think we're going to have kind of the experience this year and not the nervousness to take us to that next level. I don't see one team particularly dominating this region, and it's really about what you do in practice each day. This year as a team, I think we want to have a good season and obviously make it to district. Have a district title again, and we want to go to region and possibly go to state. I think definitely win a district for sure, and then even try to win a region. I think that's been our goal for a while, and I think we've always felt short, so this year definitely just... region is like the big thing right now. We're going to sweep through district, run through region, and hopefully make it to state. Come watch us this year because we need some fans. Reporting in Belfrey for EKB Sports, I'm Makayla Colley.


The study extracts lignosellulosic fiber from myconea micranthoconthexH.b.Kleaf waste through mercerization process, resulting in improved cellulose fraction and increased crystallinity index, which enhances the fiber's permeability to water attack and moisture absorption. This article was authored by Georgiang Lim, Mahashnan Oramugam, Chan Kiang Lim, and others.


So that's the one a lot of people use in their clinics and or their homes. And you can run it 24 seven. What's the cost on that? So that's starting at 9,000. You see in the background, I can't turn this thing. Okay. No. Anyway, let me see if I can turn. See that? So that's a Chico aura. That's the larger version and it covers 3,000 square feet. And you can use it to actually energize your entire office or home, 3,000 square feet big. All right, Jenny, if you need more help, we can help you when you go into consultation you can book one. Yeah. So that's the one a lot of people use in their clinics and or their homes. And you can run it 24 seven. What's the cost on that? So that's starting at 9,000. It is more expensive than the other coils.


Hi, so I've literally just come indoors from my business trip and I see in front of me a package from Indonesia Welcome, my name is Tech Welcome to bootlossify and I'm back in Wajik country. I acknowledge the traditional custodians I've just been up in Darwin in Larakir country and guess what's arrived that I'm about to open and Here we are this package from Fortis boots Bandung Indonesia beautifully wrapped as usual from all Indonesian boot companies in my experience. I've only had two And this is wrapped in bubble wrap and then the box inside It's also cellophane wrapped so in fact, it's actually extremely waterproof and Here are the boots The logo Fortis. This is their service boot pattern Which I'm about to open Packed so securely Very nice tissue paper That's a lovely package. Oh, I see Gosh, isn't that absolutely beautiful?  It's very nice And here they are wrapped in individually wrapped in plastic These are in crazy horse And as I said, this is their service boot pattern in using their sdaka Last which is a round toe wide wide toe box last Vibram 100 montaña a commando lug sole solid What can I see here? So you get the vibram out so Two layers of leather midsole And then I believe that's a welt So it's a stitch down construction on a welt It's a 270 degree stitch down construction Uh with a 360 degree extra stitch down One of those double stitch downs goes through the midsole The other one goes all the way through the montaña sole And the stitching on this is really lovely. I mean If you look at the stitching, they climb up and down those lugs There's nothing sort of crossing midair that can't be cut. So Very neat all done by hand Which I'll put a video up as part of this video showing them making it The stitch per inches Very fine and very even considering this is hand stitched This is local indonesian Crazy horse leather, which is not horse. It's actually bovine But it's called crazy horse because it's used in um Horse tackle saddles and so on and it is it will give you a kind of pull-up effect as you can see Uh Crazy patina and crazy sort of striations happening. I asked for a local pull-up brown tongue That gave me that It's lined Fully lined with local lining leather I asked for everything local because I thought you know Let's help the people in indonesia By making sure that their supply chains all stay within indonesia So that's one boot Take this other one out These are truly Beautiful wrap That's the other boot They come with round cotton laces. You saw the Flat waxed ones earlier That leather is just Just gives you great pull-up uh Crazy horse leather. It's it's actually quite a uh Resilient leather resilient to scratches and scuffs and things It's basically an oiled new buck. So as the new buck is tough, this is tough one two three four five Islets and three speed hooks Up the six inch shaft So we'll get them on foot and then uh do a brief Uh first impressions video on on this. So keep watching Okay, so in this section of the video, I'm going to try these fortress service boots on Um, I've just come out of a three hour flight from darwin. So I'm slightly deaf with the air pressure So forgive me if I'm shouting Um, so let's just try these for size. I had to take off Something in here I had to take off, uh, obviously my white's empty boots that I was wearing up in darwin Ever so comfortable those Now we've got those out of the way. Let's put these on So the fit is pretty good It's quite a roomy round toad last So I'm quite happy with how it feels on the toes The uh Crazy horse leather is quite thick. I'll measure it in a minute Um, and already feels quite sturdy On my feet Put the other one on. Oh, yes Very nice fit The speed hooks are nice and big. So uh, quite easy to Go through this lacing process Yeah, I like my boots a little bit rounded at the toe box um Snug but roomy at the ball of the toe uh ball of the foot and uh Snug at the heel now. I think these are actually um Uh, uh, a 41 european 41 last so they're not a combination last the um Currently the heel feels a bit roomy, but that's all right. I'm as you can see how I was wearing, uh, thin socks So how do they feel? They feel very nice the leather is How can I describe it tough but supple now? You'll see that the left toe box Is a bit darker than the right toe box That's because crazy horse is a um oily newbuck And it's just that this little patch of leather on the vamp has obviously received a bit more oil and conditioning Um, recently as the boots was made So that will eventually wear off or a little bit big big four and everything will even up uh The comfort is very good In my initial wear at least um, I think the vroom v100 Lugs are very deep, but also this double Leather midsole Leather on the inside Uh, the arch support is okay. I don't think it's fabulous, especially after wearing my MPs for a A week But it's it's fine. It's possible and there is a little bit of Is it foam on the insole? I feel a little bit of sponginess but uh We'll take them off and have a look and then I'll come back With my initial impressions I literally have uh only just arrived home from Darwin. So I hadn't even taken my hat off All my jacket. Um So I was so excited to get these. Um, so here they are straight away Uh, so my first impressions are that these are really well made boots The stitching all around uh triple stitching in the in in where it counts where all the uh, uh Uh reinforcement is required Is extremely fine very perfectly spaced single stitching around the collar uh reinforcing the hardware the Leather the crazy indonesian crazy horse leather Look, I think it's as good as any crazy horse leather. I've ever uh boots that I've ever tried on the lining leather is soft grainy supple I don't know what kind of of leather it is. I'm assuming it's some kind of goat or kid leather the indonesian pull-up brown tongue is feeling extremely supple it has a nice Not as nice as chrome excel pull-up effect, but it does do some pull-up to it And it's a semi semi gusseted tongue. So the tongue is gusseted up to Uh, in from right up to the fifth island quite a highway up Uh, and the stitching inside looks excellent As I said the outsole is a v100 vibram commando lug sole. So it's quite a deep lug kind of arrangement You can see that there is a slight uh What would you say a little mound there because they've put in support into the shank area the heel is an all leather block one two three layers of leather on top of the uh, montagne rubber and then the uh, montagne heel top lift on top of that and then under that leather there's a double leather midsole and then the welt the crazy horse leather is turned outwards in a stitch down on top of the welt and is stitched once through the upper leather the welt and the midsole and then the second stitch goes right through all the way to that stitch there the way the welt or the way the midsole is is put together is like almost seamless it is Not a particularly flexible boot. So it does need breaking in because of the uh double leather midsole as well as the vibram commando lug sole the brass hardware Is perfectly fine perfectly fine solid. They're backed So there's some attention to detail Uh, I should note that the stitching on the welt scorn or stitch down 270 degree stitching Is done by hand and I'll insert some video of it being done here Uh, and in fact most of it is done by hand by three artisans And the boss so four people working in this in this workshop Literally sitting on the floor stitching these things together And when you see that video you kind of have to admire how close And how really detailed the stitches per inch are on this boot It has a single piece backstay Running with the external heel reinforcement and and the backstay going up And the toe is lightly structured. So there is a little bit of um Thermal thermal material in there to give it a little bit of shape But it's very light. So I expect it and I I I wanted to slightly collapse with wear I come back to the leather it is really nice really nice Crazy horse leather and you can see how um It just changes color as you as you move it around The inside There is a a footbed. It's glued in but I can feel a slight um Sponginess in it. I don't know if you can see it It's leather But I think there might be some foam back into that leather Before it it sits onto this midsole construction so One thing is In talking to the owner of fortis boots Who's really nice guy. They only started in 2020 so it's a very new bandung manufacturer Four people as I said working in it. Um, it it's actually quite difficult sometimes to communicate with them because they're all working hard or They have family issues and had to take time off um, the weight is currently about 10 to 12 weeks But mainly because of a weighting list that these people are working through and when they actually make the boot It's done within a week or so So there you have it my initial impressions and earlier on you'll have seen the actual unboxing and the trying on Uh, I'm looking forward to getting somewhere in these so, uh, don't forget to click on like and the subscribe buttons and um I hope to see you soon.


Everybody forced here by being the sports card Almanac multi-sport personal box edition of volume 3 One box for Paul B. He picked number 77 Good luck Paul 77 for you beautiful handwriting on this. All right Here we go, Paul Feel the Beckett slab I think oh Oh Look at 2001 SP authentic sign of the times Arnold Palmer 95 Gem mints and on the auto What a card centering nine five corners nine five edges nine surface nine five Sign of the times Arnold Palmer Wow, man, congrats Paul.  Yeah, let's just see the label Thanks again, man, we'll get that right out to you


Welcome back. We're live on three and it's time for when a home on afternoon express where we follow three talented young designers as They transform three empty properties of Veldivia state into dream homes using finishes provided by Caesar stone and Plascon Now one of the challenges our designers were given is to incorporate the use of Caesar stone into their designs Well, Joanne took up the challenge while creating a unique bespoke base and vanity with the help from Cape Town based design furniture design studio crib creations I was looking around at bases, and I couldn't find anything that I really liked that you could buy off of the floor or somewhere in shops So I've always wanted to design my own bespoke pieces. I mean this opportunity came along. I Designed this beautiful concrete looking basin. That's very modern and angular I've always wanted to design a vanity like this because I haven't seen anything like it in South Africa I think it's quite trending in the rest of the world. So this was my chance to make it happen and see it in real life It shows you just so because it's durable and waterproof It can be made into any form So in this particular instance, we use the 13 millimeters because it can be cut into my specific dimensions that I designed for this vanity Joanne came to us with the idea for some lovely Caesar stone basins And she asked us to design a vanity that would complement that and she provided some lovely references with Oak veneer panels, which we incorporated into the drawer front design. Joanne has been great She's very open to all the suggestions that we've had for her She was able to provide us with some excellent reference materials So you know that made our job very easy. There's a level of an openness to innovation there rather I should say You know, there's a willingness to embrace new ideas and and innovative construction techniques and Newer materials that you know an older more established designer might shy away from I chose to collaborate with Crip Creations because they responded to me on a Facebook page I was looking for someone to work with it on a vanity and they messaged me and asked me what my specifics were And I said to my designs. They really loved it So they came up with a beautiful oak vanity underneath my basin. We're a young creative bunch here So we enjoy taking risks and taking on things that others might not We enjoy working with combinations of different materials taking advantage of the unique Characteristics of each material and really letting them shine It's really interesting being a local designer. I think there's a lot of opportunity out there Cape Town is quite a creative hub since the design capital 2014 There's been a lot of a lot of buzz around especially locally produced stuff There's a lot of interesting work available out there for you know, people willing to to put themselves out there Crip Creations are local designers that have international quality They are quick and responsive and they have they've made beautiful designs throughout South Africa Shonae approached us with the idea for some lovely caesar stone basins And provided some references for us to design a vanity that would complement it We used oak veneer on the draw fronts and a lovely folk stone gray Millamine internals to match the the gray basins to create a harmonious look that I hope Shonae will be happy with I feel very excited that I that I designed it and it's there It was my first time attempting something like this and I think it looks amazing Well, it just goes to show that a beautiful bathroom can really add some so much to a property How much can it truly add from a salability perspective? Danilo's on the couch to tell us Selling a home means taking a whole range of different factors into consideration from the additional room to Knowing how to style the pictures you use when selling online making it presentable and purchase ready Our when-home contestants are currently working on the bathroom in their beautiful apartments on val de vie This is a room in the house that can so easily go wrong And the first thing people want to change about a house when they go and buy a new one this afternoon We have winner home judge and CEO of private property simon bray in the loft to tell us how to approach selling a home and specifically The bathroom and I'm pretty sure that hope everyone's an expert on the bathroom because you spend a lot of time there But when I was initially looking out at the property scene and went to go and visit all the properties as you went along One of the first things I loved going to go do was check out the bathroom because it is such a versatile space And it's exciting because you always went to bathroom. That's so unique. Why do people do that? You know on private property the bathroom is one of the You know most observed rooms in the house when you look at the galleries and and what people view and what they spend their Time looking at the bathrooms are always the most interesting piece And I think I mean it makes sense that the best way to gauge the condition of a home is often through the bathroom You know the fixtures the fittings the design You can get a sense really quickly on whether this is a well kept home or you know poorly kept home So I think a lot of people build an impression or build an idea of of condition of the rest of the home Based on the the grime between the tiles in the bathroom And so a lot of people don't spend enough time preparing the bathroom space particularly when they're going to sell But I think another reason is is fairly obvious You know you walk into a lounge you walk into a dining room and you can imagine your own furniture in that space You can move things around you can put a new painting on the wall You can do something different, but when it comes to the bathroom, it's all fixtures So unless you like what's been done, you're going to have to gut it and redo it and that can be a costly exercise Yeah, and also it's one of those spaces that you want to be kind of creative You want to feel like your bathroom is so unique when guests come over or it is your bathroom Potentially you want to make sure that it's a space that's exciting creative to be in So you mentioned this idea of selling that bathroom And how do we go about making sure that our bathroom is ready to sell and what are some of the mistakes that people make when doing that? Oh, there's some tremendous mistakes people make when they come to selling their property Some of the worst photos we've ever had on private property if we had a wall of shame It would be bathroom pictures, you know Yeah, simple things like not putting the toilet seat down when they take a photo of the bathroom It's those kinds of you know tacky mistakes to really bad ones like Not making sure that it's a clean space I think that's one of the things it's a little bit like a Hotel room. What are the two things you're going to look for clean sheets and fresh towels and you know a good smell in the bathroom And I think that's important when you're talking about the bathroom is it should be really clean clean clean So spend the time making it look doesn't matter what the fixtures and the fittings are doing Just make sure it's all Spick and span sure. Okay. That's really good advice I think one of the things that contestants are looking at at the moment is is the bathroom obviously and they're wanting to get all The elements put together because not in any gross way But the bathroom must be tranquil it must be a space that you feel comfortable in it must be functional too So obviously not any leaks coming out or weird designs that has water running into funny places And it must be beautifully designed too. What advice do you have for our design contestants who are busy working on them now? To make sure that the bathroom is all three of those Well, this is this is really an exercise in in form follows function The bathroom first and foremost has to be a functional space You've got to understand what the daily routine is going to be like Do you need two vanities? Do you need a walk-in shower? Is a bath something that you're going to need in this bathroom? So just figure out that daily routine Make sure that everything is placed in the right places You spoke about it being a retreat a sanctuary, you know personal space And I think the design is going to have to communicate that It's going to have to feel inviting. It's going to have to feel Like a comfortable space to be in It's not going to be a stressful experience being in there, okay? You want it as comfortable as possible Yeah, no, I won't get into the details of that But of course, you know, you want to walk in there and you want to feel like it's a great space to be in And a lot of that has to do with where everything is laid out And the the way the finishes interact with one another. So it's going to be an interesting challenge I don't think a bathroom is is As we started off saying in this interview a space that should be overlooked I think definitely something that they should spend time on and understand Perfectly, I hope everyone at home is watching very very closely because I'm so excited to have you here You mentioned a few things about investments and buying houses and selling property that has been absolutely Like pivotal to what people should be looking forward to when they're selling a house and last time we spoke You were mentioning the idea of adding an extra room to the house It's like really increasing the chances of a property being sold And but what about a second bathroom or two and a half bathrooms? How does that affect the sale of a property? Is it does it make it more investment ready? You know that the interesting thing with a bathroom is it is a very private space, right? So if you've got a home that you intend entertaining in a lot, then you have to think about this idea of a guest loo Or that half a bathroom that we see on the on the website, you know two and a half bathrooms What does that mean exactly? Um, but absolutely a guest bathroom in particular can elevate the value of a property Because your guests feel like it's a private space for them And I think that that can be very important when you're looking at it It's not Traipsing your guests through your master suite to your bathroom But having a personal space for them as well. So that can certainly add value I've been to people's houses where there is no guest bathroom when you sometimes have to walk into the master bathroom It feels a bit awkward doesn't it? This is your soap. This is move your toothbrush But when it comes to maybe building a new home or you setting yourself up for for a new property I mean, how much of a bathroom should you keep in mind because first of all cost is really expensive It's it's a cost a lot of money to build a house And maybe you're thinking future value when you're wanting to sell the property Does keeping bathrooms in consideration in your back of your mind add enough value to a property for the future value of itself Yeah, well, if you think about it, most people move on In a property between five and seven years. So you're going to look to put your property on the market Even though you don't think so, you know, you move in you're in love This is the best property ever. We're going to stay here forever But the truth is seven years time you're going to be looking for a new property So if you do upgrade the bathrooms and you're looking to do something A great renovation or something you need to think about what it's going to look like in five to seven years time So pick quality finishes finishes that are going to last Taps showers bars that are going to last And have a timeless element to the design. Don't just jump on the latest trend And then you regret it three years from now and you're doing it all over again Yeah, like where you're bathroom in your shower have no different walls or doors in between them And you think oh, this is a great idea and then you realize what happens in that room Simon's always an honor to speaking to you And I really enjoy taking all the pearls of wisdom when it comes to selling your properties made me kind of nervous I think the contestants are going to have to be uh, very aware of this challenge I think a big difference between the apartments is going to be how these bathrooms turn out So I'm looking forward to it. Thanks so much Simon So don't underestimate the power of a beautiful bathroom when it comes to selling your home Head over to private property dot co dot zed a will you will find the perfect home in the neighborhood that you love While logging on why not enter the winner home competition and standard chance to win a home on val devy Now remember that this week on private property dot co dot zed a we want to know What is your favorite design contestants bathroom by casting you a virtue standard chance of winning paint from plascon To the value of five thousand rand you'll also automatically be placed into the grand prize draw Where you could one of those win one of those completed apartments at val devy worth more than three million rand Winner home is proudly brought to you by private property in association with nid bank. We'll be right back after this