Over 700 events will be held in 2011 marking the Year of Russia in Spain and the year of Spain in Russia, Ambassador for International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoi told reporters on Tuesday at press conference in Madrid, Voice of Russia reports.

The two countries will cover all areas of bilateral cooperation: economic, scientific, educational and cultural, said Shvydkoi.

Spain will actively participate in the St. Petersburg Economic Forum and the Forum of Information and Communication Technologies. For its part, Russia will hold an exhibition in Spain covering innovative technologies reports ITAR-TASS.

Both countries are planning the joint launch of a new telescope to study distant objects in space. There will be a meeting of the rectors of Russian and Spanish universities, during which the expansion of scientific cooperation between the two countries will be discussed.

However, most events will cover the wide scope of cultural cooperation, the focus of which will be the exchanges of opera and ballet productions. As the artistic director of the Royal Opera, Gerard Mortier told us, the ballet of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre will travel to Spain, and on the 5th of December 2011, Madrid will host a gala concert of the stars of the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky Theatre. In turn, the National Ballet of Spain will perform in Russia.

In addition, Russia's State Hermitage Museum to host exhibitions of paintings from the collection of the famous Prado Museum in Madrid and Spain’s Museum of Fine Arts. The Pushkin museum’s focus will be on one of the most provoking artists of the twentieth century, Salvador Dali. Contemporary Russian artists will show their work in Madrid at the traditional art fair "ARCO". Spain will also be the guest country of the Moscow International Book Fair and the Moscow International Tourism Fair.