King Felipe and Queen Letizia visited Sweden last week for a state visit with King Cark Gustaf and Queen Silvia.
Events included a departure ceremony outside Madrid for Spain’s royals. In Sweden, they met with Spanish diplomats, business leaders and scientists.
The king and queen also had several events with Sweden’s royals and political leaders, including leaders of parliament and the Stockholm capital.
The state visit went from Nov. 23rd through Nov. 25th.
King Felipe and Queen Letizia hosted Italian President Sergio Mattarella and his daughter Laura Mattarella for a state visit this week.
The trip included a welcoming ceremony and dinner at the Madrid Royal Palace, and meetings at Zarzuela Palace north of central Madrid. That’s the compound where the royal family lives and works.
The state visit coincided with a meeting of the Cotec Foundation for innovation and economic development. The group has branches in Italy and Porgugal.
Indeed, King Felipe attended the meeting in Malaga, in southern Spain, with President Mattarella and Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Sousa also participated with Don Felipe in a ceremony in Madrid earlier this week to mark the 30th anniversary of Ibero-American summits.
King Felipe was in Paris last week to attend the Paris Peace Forum, where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron.
The Paris Peace Forum is an opportunity for world leaders to discuss pressing matters. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was there, but it’s unclear whether she met with His Majesty.
Queen’s Trip
Earlier this month, Queen Letizia made a quick trip to Paraguay to showcase and review Spanish aid and cooperation efforts.
First Lady Silvana López welcomed Her Majesty at the airport. The Queen then met with local leaders, Spanish diplomats, local artisans and members of the indigenous community.
This is Queen Letizia’s 6th cooperation trip. She has also traveled to Honduras, El Salvador, Senegal, the Dominican Republic and Mozambique during previous tours.
Leonor, the Princess of Asturias, returned from her studies in Wales to hand out the Princess of Asturias awards late last month.
The awards are among the highest civilian honors bestowed by the Spanish Royal Family and the ceremony is among the most important events of the year.
The princess, 16, said, “I will soon return to my studies with the memory of giving out these awards, which ones again excite us and move us.”
She said, “I will miss this land, Asturias, which I love and where my sister, Sofia, and I feel so at home.”
Princess Leonor’s mom, Queen Letizia, is a native of Asturias, in the north of Spain. Princess of Asturias is one of the titles held by the heir to the Spanish throne.
The awards are handed out at the Campoamor Theater in Oviedo, Asturias. But there are events before and after the main ceremony, including a visit to an Asturian community.
Attending were King Felipe, Queen Letizia, Princess Leonor, Queen Sofia and Infanta Sofia. The royals arrive in separate cars and make a grand entrance to the tune of bagpipes.
King Felipe handed outgoing German Prime Minister Angela Merkel the Charles V European Award last week at the Yuste Monastery in western Spain.
The award is meant to honor service to Europe. It’s backed by the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation.
The award is named after Charles V, who was king of Spain and Holy Roman emperor in the 1500s. He lived in the Yuste Monastery after his retirement.
King Felipe, Queen Letizia and Infanta Sofia presided over a military parade in Madrid last week for Spanish National Day or Dia de la Hispanidad.
The annual event was much smaller last year and confined to the Madrid Royal Palace grounds because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year it returned with some health precautions.
The Oct. 12 event, which includes military overflights and a reception at the Royal Palace, marks the historical consolidation of the Spanish state and its colonization of the Americas.
Leonor, the Princess of Asturias, was not present at the event. She’s away at school in Wales.
Queen Letizia traveled to Switzerland on Friday to inaugurate an exposition of works by Spanish master Goya.
The works are on display at the Beyeler Foundation museum near the Swiss city of Basel.
King Felipe last week visited the city of Tenerife in the Canary Islands to speak with officials about the ongoing volcanic eruptions in the nearby island of La Palma.
The King visited with members of the Canary Island Tourism Council to discuss the impact on the regional economy.
The Canary Islands are a Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast. His Majesty also visited the parliament building in Tenerife for an awards ceremony.
Spain’s royals have held meetings in recent weeks with the leaders of Colombia, Angola and Portugal amid a busy fall agenda.
King Felipe and Queen Letizia last month welcomed the president of Angola, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, and his wife, Ana Dias Lourenço at the Royal Palace in Madrid.
Earlier in the month, Their Majesties were in Portugal with President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to inaugurate a cancer center in Lisbon.
The center is backed by the Champalimaud Foundation. The King’s mother, Queen Sofia, is involved with the group, according to the Royal Household.
The King was in Lisbon Sept. 12 for the state funeral of former Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio.
On Sept. 16, King Felipe and Queen Letizia held a lunch for Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez, his wife María Juliana Ruiz and a delegation from both countries.
Earlier this month the King welcomed several new ambassadors to present their credentials at the Royal Palace in Madrid.
Another recent guest to Spain was Chilean President Sebastián Piñera.
Queen Sofia attended the opera last week for the opening of the Madrid Royal Theater’s 2021-2022 season.
The venue is celebrating 100 seasons since its opening in the 1800’s and its 25th season since reopening in 1997.
This year’s opera is Rossini’s La Cenerentola. Last year the Royal Theater put on A Masked Ball, as Spaniards returned to performance venues under COVID-19 precautions.
LOS BORBONES 