Gov. Rick Scott is once again making travel plans. This time the destination is Spain, Floridas 34th largest trading partner.
The excursion would mix business development with possible tourist development tied to the pending quincentennial of Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon y Figueroas first expedition to Florida.
A spokeswoman for the governors office called the plans preliminary and deferred comment to Enterprise Florida.
Manny Mencia, Enterprise Florida's senior vice president of international business development, said the group is still exploring the viability of doing the mission in the first half of the year.
We dont have confirmed dates and were evaluating opportunities, Mencia said.
Madrid would be the primary destination, he said.
Also, instead of being labeled a trade mission, the trip is being scouted as a business development mission that would focus on investment and other business objectives, he said.
Spain, while relatively a good market for trade,is principally a foreign investment source, Mencia said.
There are already an estimated 400 Spain-based companies working in Florida, which has one of the largest concentration of Spanish expatriates in the United States, he said.
The other key objective is the 500 celebration, Mencia said. Promoting Florida and the 500 (anniversary) celebration and Spanish heritage will also have a potential tourism impact.
While the peninsula has been inhabited for more than 12,000 years, according to Florida documents, the anniversary marks a new era in human history that saw many nationalities come together as the foundation that eventually formed the United States of America, the Florida Department of State posts on its Viva Florida 500 site.
The website is being used to plan Floridas 500th anniversary.
In April 1513, Ponce de Leon landed his small fleet near present-day St. Augustine, claiming the land for Spain. He dubbed the land "la Florida or place of flowers.
St. Augustine, North America's oldest continuously inhabited settlement, wouldn't be founded for another 52 years.
De Leon would also get credit for naming Cape Canaveral Cape of Currents, and the Dry Tortugas on the voyage, which ended after the explorers encountered unfriendly natives in the area of present-day Charlotte Harbor.
For Scott, this would be his fifth international mission since taking office a year ago.
Mencia, who has helped scout out the other trips, said the office hasnt received additional travel proposals from the governors office for the year.
Scott headed four trade missions last year, each with Enterprise Florida, visiting Panama in March, Canada in June, Brazil, in October and Israel in December.
Brazil is Floridas largest trading partner, at $15.5 billion a year. Panama stands 20th and Canada is 31st, according to Enterprise Florida.
At $793.6 million a year in trade, Spain is wedged between Taiwan and Jamaica on the list of trading partners.
Among Floridas top exports to Spain are medical supplies, cars, aircraft and aircraft parts, and yachts and other vessels.
The top imports from Spain include non-crude oil, ceramics, wine and olive oil.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
