Not just business, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s upcoming trip to Europe and the Middle East would also entail attempts to forge partnerships with the Spanish Football Association, organizers of La Liga, ostensibly to boost football in a land where it is adored.

Banerjee is scheduled to depart for her 11-day trip on Tuesday morning flying first to the Spanish capital, Madrid, via Dubai. The chief minister is scheduled to reach Madrid on the afternoon of Wednesday, September 13 and is slated to meet La Liga officials in the Spanish city on the following day. A verified handle of the official account of La Liga’s corporate content on X (formerly twitter) also confirmed the appointment.

Besides confirming that officials of Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting clubs, the three Calcutta Maidan biggies, would be accompanying her on the trip and that Sourav Ganguly, former Team India cricket captain who has also had close ties with the Indian Super League football and was previously on the board of ATK Mohun Bagan, would be joining her in Madrid, the chief minister wasn’t quite forthcoming on the nature of football ties that’s likely to take shape.

“How can I say things in advance unless I hold the meeting,” Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat Nabanna, “If I reveal everything now, there would be no element of surprise left. I am going there for Bengal. Obviously, I must get results. You will get to know about it all in due time.”

Captain of the Indian men’s football team Sunil Chhetri is also likely to be a part of the 30-40 member delegation comprising bureaucrats, industry captains and members of the political and journalism fraternity who are supposed to accompany the chief minister on this trip.

Banerjee is supposed to stay put in Madrid from 13-16 September during the course of which she is scheduled to attend at least one business meeting and one meeting with the Indian Diaspora. On September 17, she would be headed for Barcelona by train where she is scheduled to participate in a couple of more business meetings with focus on the textile and tourism sectors, it was learnt.

The chief minister would fly to Dubai on the evening of September 20 and reach the emirate the following morning where she is scheduled to attend a diaspora meeting on the same evening. A business meeting with representatives from sectors of mutual collaboration like chemicals and petrochemicals, food processing, healthcare and energy is also being planned on the next day. Banerjee is scheduled to return to Calcutta on September 23.

“Let’s hope for the best,” the chief minister said, expressing regret that she is flying offshore to attract foreign investment after a gap of five years because of "Centre's embargo".

“Spain was a partner country at the Kolkata Book Fair last year and we are expecting them to participate in the upcoming edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit. They have core strength in filmmaking, painting and certain areas of manufacturing which we can benefit from,” Banerjee added.

While the Spanish leg of the chief minister's trip is being jointly organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, the Dubai leg of her tour would be managed by FICCI and the state industrial development corporation, it was learnt.