Story highlights George W. Bush was last U.S. president to visit Spain

Obama trip intended to show Spain's importance as a NATO ally

Madrid, Spain (CNN) President Barack Obama arrived in Spain Saturday for an 18-hour stop, the first U.S. president to visit in 15 years, before returning home to pressing problems in his own country.

Obama, who is traveling to Spain from the NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland, cut a day off his visit after the shooting death of five police officers in Dallas and he will come back to the U.S. on Sunday instead of Monday as had been planned.

White House officials said Obama is visiting Spain to demonstrate its importance as a NATO ally. With that in mind, the President will tour the U.S. Naval Station in Rota, Spain, where four U.S. Navy vessels are stationed to bolster NATO security.

The President, who arrived in the late afternoon ET Saturday and is scheduled to depart in the early afternoon ET Sunday, canceled a town hall meeting with young Spaniards and will not go to Seville, where he was to meet with King Felipe VI and see cultural attractions.

The King sent a telegraph to Obama on Friday offering the condolences of the Spanish people and condemning the violence in Dallas.

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