Royal Palace of Madrid, Spain. (Photo: VCG)

MADRID, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish capital city of Madrid will host the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 25) following Chile's decision to step down as host for the event due to the ongoing street protests in the South American country.

Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, confirmed that the UN had accepted the offer Spain made on Thursday to step in as host of the summit.

In a tweet posted on Friday, Espinosa said, "we are happy to announce that the COP Bureau has agreed that #COP25 will take place from 2-13 December in Madrid, Spain."

Spain's acting Minister for Ecological Transition Teresa Ribera responded to the news with a tweet of her own saying: "It will be our pleasure to host" the event and "a privilege to back & facilitate global action on climate."

"Progressive and constructive multilateralism is the best answer to global challenges," she added.

The decision came just a day after the acting Spanish government of Pedro Sanchez issued a communique on Thursday indicating Spain would be willing to host the conference, explaining that "multinational action on the climate is a priority on the agenda of the United Nations and the European Union and demands a major commitment from everyone."

Chile's President Sebastian Pinera had welcomed what he called a "generous offer from the president of Spain.

Espinosa had also been receptive on Thursday to Spain's willingness to take on the organization of the event at short notice, issuing a communique saying the offer would be "taken into consideration as soon as possible."

"It is good to see countries working together in a spirit of multilateralism against climate change, which is the biggest challenge to present and future generation," she added.

The annual Conference of the Parties (COP) summit is a key event which allows representatives from around 200 nations to monitor and discuss the current situation of the world's warming climate and the event usually attracts thousands of delegates along with journalists and climate activists.

Organizing the event at short notice is likely to provide some logistical issues given that it will be held just three weeks after the Nov. 10 general election in Spain.

The conference will also be held against the backdrop of an important holiday weekend in Spain between Dec. 6-8, when tens of thousands of people from outside of Madrid traditionally visit the capital to do Christmas shopping. This factor is likely to cause transport and security issues as well as putting stress on hotel availability given that around 25,000 people are expected to attend the Cop 25 Climate Change Summit.