Zapotero: Spain will be at economic summit

MADRID, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Prime Minister Jose Zapatero said that Spain plans to be represented at an economic summit to be held in Washington next month.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested Tuesday in a speech to the European Parliament that Spain be excluded. Sarkozy said Spain is neither a member of the Group of Eight nor a fast-developing country like India or Brazil.

Zapatero said he talked to Sarkozy later in the day, El Pais reported.

"The world's eighth-largest economy has to have a voice," Zapatero told reporters in Madrid.

Relations between Zapatero and Sarkozy were already strained. Sarkozy did not invite the Spanish prime minister to a meeting of European leaders in Paris.

In his speech, Sarkozy suggested that invitations to the Washington conference go to the G8 countries plus the five developing countries with the biggest economies. Wednesday, the White House said the G20 would participate in the summit.