Last year’s reception for the Diplomatic Corps./ Photo: Casa de S.M. El Rey
The Diplomat. 25/01/2016
Among the numerous collateral effects of the lack of agreement on forming a government in Spain, is the impossibility of arranging a date for the traditional reception by the King for the Diplomatic Corps accredited to Spain which normally takes place in January in the Palacio Real.
Initially, a possible date of 28 January was proposed, it being considered that whatsoever the case, Mariano Rajoy as the Spanish President and José Manuel García-Margallo as Minister of Foreign Affairs, both in an acting capacity, would be able join the King at this ceremony.
However, the decision of Rajoy of not endeavouring to form a government has meant that the Monarch has to arrange a further round of talks with the leaders of the parties with parliamentary representation, which he will commence as from Wednesday 27 January, after receiving the President of the Congress of Deputies, Patxi López.
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28 January was initially proposed but it will not take place now until the monarch’s schedule is less busy
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In this situation, both the Royal Household and the Government have decided to postpone the reception for ambassadors until the political panorama is somewhat clearer and above all, until the point in time when King Felipe VI will have a free date in his diary, without the risk of there having to be changes.
Traditionally, at the reception for the diplomatic corps, attended by ambassadors or attaches serving in Madrid, the dean of the same, the Papal Nuncio, pronounces a few words of felicitation to the King and Queen, to which the monarch replies with references to the international activity of Spain and the country’s principal objectives in its foreign policy.
