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Bush makes a gaffe during trip to Spain
©Associated Press
February 18, 2003
MADRID -- Gov. Jeb Bush, on a business trip to Spain, made at least one big gaffe when he met with local businessmen: calling Spain a republic when it is a constitutional monarchy, with King Juan Carlos as the head of state.
"I want to thank the president of the Republic of Spain for his friendship with the United States. I know this is a difficult situation in the short term," Bush said in Spanish about Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.
Spain has not been a republic since the late 1930s, when Gen. Francisco Franco defeated Republican troops in the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War. After Franco's death in 1975, Spain became a constitutional monarchy.
Bush arrived Sunday for a weeklong stay in Spain with a delegation of 80 businessmen hoping to bolster Spanish trade ties with Florida.
On Monday, he met and had lunch with Aznar, and they discussed business between Spain and Florida. A government spokesman said they did not talk about Iraq.
Aznar is one of Europe's staunchest supporters of Bush's brother, President George W. Bush, in his hard-line stance against Iraq. Both leaders are scheduled for a meeting next weekend at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas.
In Madrid, Jeb Bush also met Monday with the city's business community. He is expected to leave Spain for Miami on Friday.
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