Obama arrives at Spain’s Royal Palace

The president traveled to Spain after attending a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in Poland, but the sheer horror over the killings overshadowed most of his public appearances.

At an all-hands call later in the day after his tour of the ballistic missile defense-capable warship, Obama said his trip was about reaffirming the US commitment to Europe’s security.

President Barack Obama has arrived at Spain’s Royal Palace to meet with King Felipe VI.

President Barack Obama tells members of the US military in Spain that America will overcome various threats and challenges not only through its military strength but by staying true to its values, including respect for one another and the refusal to be divided by ethnicity and religion.

Obama, who was greeted on arrival at Torrejon Air Base by King Felipe, will visit a US Naval Station at Rota, in southern Spain, addressing US personnel who have been stationed at the mouth of the Mediterranean since a deal with Spain’s former dictator Francisco Franco.

The last stage of his visit will be an American naval base in Cadiz, in the South of Spain, where he will speak to the 3000 troops posted there.

The President’s trip to Spain – likely his last to a European country as president – is highly anticipated by a nation that has not seen a U.S president visit since George W. Bush in June 2001 and whose political system is in chaos.

Plans for sightseeing in Seville and a town hall meeting with Spanish citizens were cancelled Sasha Obama.

Obama, speaking in Madrid, said any violence against police was “a reprehensible crime and needs to be prosecuted”. Obama is cutting his first visit to Spain a day short because of a series of deadly shootings in the U.S.

Obama’s visit comes as Spain remains mired in a months-old political crisis, with two general elections resulting in no clear victor. But events beyond Obama’s control are ensuring that his first and only visit to Spain, the largest European country that had yet to welcome the president, will be a rushed one. On what is expected to be his last presidential visit to Europe, Obama is…

Spain has been stuck in a near seven-month political stalemate since a national election in December stripped Rajoy of his majority and forced parties to negotiate, so far without success, about forming a coalition government.

He will then return to the White House late on Sunday, a day earlier than originally planned.

Rajoy thanked Obama for visiting and offered his condolences for the Dallas shooting.

And he told him that no matter who leads Spanish, the USA and Spain would remain strong allies.

On Wednesday, Obama will host a meeting with law enforcement officials, activists and civil rights leaders to discuss ways to fix “the bonds of trust” between communities and police, the White House said on Monday.

A respectful debate, Obama said, is “what’s going to ultimately help make the job of being a cop a lot safer”.

“That’s why the United States is deeply committed to maintaining our relationship with a strong, unified Spain”, the president said. His wife, Michelle, and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, stopped in Spain in late June during the first lady’s three-country trip to promote education for adolescent girls in developing countries.