British Queen Elizabeth has invited King Felipe and Queen Letizia for a state visit next March.
Their Majesties will stay at Windsor Castle during their time in the United Kingdom.
King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia visited Queen Elizabeth on an official state visit in 1986.
Queen Elizabeth and her husband paid a visit to Spain in 1988.
There have been several other royal visits since, but more informal in nature.
Both families have friendship and blood ties.
King Felipe in recent weeks celebrated a new Spanish law granting citizenship to Sephardic Jews or their descendants.
Spain forces thousands of Jews to convert to Catholicism or face expulsion centuries ago.
Even many Jews who converted saw difficulties in escaping the Spanish Inquisition.
“I want to tell you that you are back in your own home, that you have returned, forever to your home,” said His Majesty during an an address at the Madrid Royal Palace.
King Felipe hosted Jordan’s King Abdullah for meetings on security and economic issues last month.
The two day work trip included a visit to Airbus Group SE defense facilities in the Madrid area.
Beyond business, media outlets were looking out for Queen Letizia and Queen Rania’s outfits. Both are among the world’s best dressed royals.
King Felipe has been focused on addressing global terrorism and radical groups.
Late last month he presided over a meeting of a foundation focused on a memorial center for victims of terror based in the Basque Country.
Queen Letizia addressed the recent terrorist attacks in Paris during a speech in Madrid today.
“Mother Teresa used to say that peace began with a smile,” said the Queen.
“It’s difficult to smile today but we will do it. It’s the first step for everything.”
Earlier this weekend King Felipe and Queen Letizia signed a condolence book at the French Embassy in Madrid.
King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia also stopped to pay their respects.
It’s the second time in recent days that King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia are seen together.
King Felipe today made his most direct comments against independence efforts in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia.
“Today I want to transmit a message of serenity and confidence,” said His Majesty during an event in Madrid.
In recent days King Felipe had cleared parts of his schedule to deal with developments in the divided Catalan Parliament. He had said, “These are difficult days.”
Today Don Felipe added, “The Constitution will prevail. Let nobody doubt that. Our Constitutional order and the Constitutional principles that dictate our coexistence will remain fully in place.”
The King said, “The Constitutional Spain of our days belongs to all of us, to the Spanish public. On them our national sovereignty rests.”
King Felipe cleared parts of his schedule this week to deal with the Catalan Parliament’s pro-independence resolution, local media outlets reported.
Catalan leaders approved the resolution in recent days but have yet to form a government. Pro-independence parliamentarians are not on the same page when it comes to economic and other policies.
The King has met with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on the secessionist defiance, as its being called. Rajoy is turning to the constitutional court to invalidate the resolution.
The Catalan Parliament decided to move ahead with the non-binding pro-independence resolution despite not getting a majority of votes during the recent elections.
King Felipe pressed world leaders in recent weeks to help address the global problem of violent extremism.
Don Felipe helped open a conference in Madrid on the subject organized by groups like the Club of Madrid and the U.S. State Department.
Don Felipe said, “Political action and the use of military means, while necessary, are not sufficient to prevent and confront the number of conflicts rooted in the terrorist phenomena.”
He went on, “That’s why there’s a need to analyze and put into practice a strategy that incorporates non-traditional security measures, concrete foreign policy actions and fundamental actors, like young people, women and local communities.”
King Felipe has decided to grant his daughter, Princess Leonor, the Collar of the Golden Fleece.
The collar, once reserved for males, is the highest decoration the Spanish Monarch can grant.
King Felipe giving the collar to Princess Leonor — heir to the throne and officially Princess of Asturias — coincides with her 10th birthday.
The Spanish government is also preparing Royal Decrees to regulate Princess Leonor’s appearances and Royal Standard.
King Felipe has strengthened his calls for Spanish unity amid ongoing talks in region of Catalonia about secession.
Pro-independence candidates recently won elections to the Catalan Parliament, but failed to get a majority of overall votes.
His Majesty addressed the issue indirectly during remarks at events surrounding the prestigious Princess of Asturias awards — formerly knows at the Prince of Asturias Awards.
The King said, “Let us separate ourselves from everything that pretends to differentiate or reject one another.”
Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola was one of the award recipients at the Campoamor Theater in Oviedo, Asturias.
This week the King and Queen watched as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also indirectly rejection secessionist sentiments during a Madrid Royal Palace gathering.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was in Madrid to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of Spain joining the international body.
King Felipe welcomed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to Zarzuela Palace Monday.
Kerry was on a brief official visit to Spain following an agreement over U.S. troop presence there.
Spain and the U.S. also penned a deal to clean up pollution stemming from an accident involving nuclear weapons during the 1960’s.
The Secretary of State was scheduled to be in Madrid earlier this year but suffered a cycling accident in France.
Other appearances
Members of the Royal Family have had a busy several weeks. Also on Monday, King Felipe and Queen Letizia held a gathering of the Cervantes Institute leadership and Ibero-American ambassadors at El Pardo Palace.
King Juan Carlos helped open a contemporary art exhibit at the Madrid Royal Palace.
And last week King Felipe visited the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences to open the course year for the Royal Academies.
Queen Letizia presided over events dealing with nutrition and journalism in recent days.
LOS BORBONES 