THE First Minister has welcomed the Spanish ambassador to the UK to Scotland.

Jose Pascual Marco Martinez was welcomed to Bute House in Edinburgh by Nicola Sturgeon to discuss the "strong relationship" between Spain and Scotland.

During their conversation at the official home of the First Minister they pledged to collaborate on issues such as the cost of living crisis, tourism and energy.

Earlier this month, Sturgeon agreed to an urgent package of measures to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, while saying that lives will be lost if the UK Government does not act.

The First Minister made the announcement on Twitter after she chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government’s Resilience Committee, which has agreed to now meet weekly to track the measures' progress.

As part of her announcement, the First Minister stressed that the tools needed to deal with the crisis were reserved to the UK Government and called on Westminster to do more to help households.

The First Minister also met with the President of White House History - an organisation that documents and preserves the history of the USA's presidential residence - Stewart McLaurin. 

They discussed the strong links of culture and history between Scotland and the United States. 

Elsewhere, the First Minister recently met with the US ambassador to the UK Jane Hartley.

They were pictured backstage with Hollywood actor Alan Cumming at the Edinburgh Festival after watching his performance in Burn, a dance theater show that explores the life of Scotland’s most famous poet Robert Burns.

The show was celebrated as a great example of “USA-Scotland cultural collaboration”.