Club de Madrid was founded in October 2001 as a result of the Conference on Democratic Transition and Consolidation held in Madrid with the objective of creating a permanent forum for governments to consult, and "be able to access expert's opinions". The event was organized by the think tank
FRIDE (
Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exteriores). The Conference was attended by 32 current and former
heads of state and
government, who discussed their ideas and conclusions with over 100 experts. Among the attendees were former
President of the USSR Mikhaíl Gorbachov, former
Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell,
King Juan Carlos I of Spain, former democratic
Prime Ministers of Spain Adolfo Suárez,
Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo,
Felipe González and
José María Aznar, former
Prime Minister of the Central African Republic Martin Ziguele, and
US President Bill Clinton. who held that post until 2006. In 2004, former
Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell became Secretary General until 2006, when the Spanish diplomat Fernando Perpiñá-Robert took the post. Former
President of Chile Ricardo Lagos was elected as the organization's President in 2006, until 2010, when he ceded the position to former
Prime Minister of the Netherlands Wim Kok. Also in 2010,
Carlos Westendorp, Spanish diplomat and politician, became Secretary General. Former
President of Latvia Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga was elected President of the Club in 2014. In 2016, María Elena Agüero became Secretary General and, in 2019, former
President of Slovenia Danilo Türk was elected President, posts they both still hold. The Club's first General Assembly was held in Madrid in October 2002 approved the organization's first Annual Policy Dialogue, year-long initiatives that involve members, other organizations, and experts in working groups to formulate policy recommendations on the decided topic. The results of some Annual Policy Dialogues and other programs have been echoed and supported in national and international legislation and pacts. The Club de Madrid pushed for a constitutional reform in
Haiti and promoted the adoption of a National Pact in 2014 to reach a democratic consensus. With the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic, Club de Madrid called for international cooperation, solidarity, and policies such as the "creation of an international fund for assistance to the
Global South to deal with the consequences of
COVID-19" and supported "the
IMF’s call for coordinated fiscal stimuli to mitigate against long-lasting economic damage". The organization called on the
World Bank to support the coordinated purchase of pandemic response equipment. Club de Madrid issued a statement in support of the 2020
International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, endorsing practices of
restorative justice and highlighting the cosmovision of numerous indigenous peoples towards nature. Also in 2020, the organization appealed to the authorities of
Belarus to "stop detentions and the use of force against unarmed demonstrators" after the
presidential elections in the country. Club de Madrid also condemned the 2021
coup d'état in Myanmar and called for the "immediate and unconditional release of President
Win Myint, State Counsellor
Aung San Suu Kyi, members of government, of the
National League for Democracy (NLD) and of civil society activists who have been detained". Also in 2021, the organization and 46 of its members publicly supported the suspension of the
WTO's
intellectual property rules towards
COVID-19 vaccines to make vaccination more accessible. In June 2022, the Club de Madrid called on the Tunisian President
Kais Saied to release the politician
Hamadi Jebali. Club de Madrid has also repeatedly called for the release of opposition leader
Alexei Navalny and other political prisoners in
Russia, and for the end of the
Russian invasion of Ukraine through dialogue and diplomacy. In response to the
8 January Brasília attacks, Club de Madrid condemned the event. In 2024, the Club of Madrid sent an open letter to the
G20 group in which it supported
Brazil's proposal to tax the super-rich to alleviate "extreme" inequality and raise the money needed for investment in industry and the green transition. In the letter, they warned that taxes are the foundation of a civilized, enterprising and prosperous society. The Club of Madrid pointed out that the Super Rich have unproductively accumulated trillions of dollars that could have been productively invested in communities, education, health and infrastructure. The result is extreme inequality, which is why 19 members of Club of Madrid believe that a new international agreement on the taxation of the super-rich is necessary. The letter was signed by, among others, former President of
Chile Michelle Bachelet, former
Slovenian President
Danilo Tuerk, former Swedish Prime Minister
Stefan Lofven, former Spanish Prime Ministers
Felipe Gonzalez and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and former French Prime Minister
Dominique de Villepin. ==Composition and structure==