The Diplomat
The King and Queen of Spain yesterday made the third day of their state visit to Germany, which included a Spanish-German business forum, meetings in the Parliament and the Berlin City Hall and one of the highlights of the trip: the inauguration of the Frankfurt Book Fair, in which Spain is the guest of honour.
The King began the day with a working breakfast with a representation of German and Spanish businessmen, which was attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares; the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto; and the Secretary of State for Trade, Xiana Méndez.
Afterwards, Don Felipe went to the Bertelsmann Foundation where, together with the German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, he presided over the German-Spanish Business Forum, organized by Bertelsmann Stiftung in cooperation with the Spanish partners of the project. The Forum was initiated by the Spanish and German governments in Madrid in 2002 and Don Felipe participated in the Spanish-German Forums in 2013 -as Prince of Asturias-, and 2015, 2018 (with President Frank-Walter Steinmaier) and 2019 -as King-. The King then visited the Bundestag (German Parliament), where he signed the Parliament’s Book of Honor and held a meeting with the President of the German Parliament, Bärbel Bas.
Meanwhile, in a parallel agenda, Doña Letizia visited the Palais Populaire, the temporary exhibition of the Helga de Alvear Museum Collection, curated by Lola Hinojosa Martínez, head of the Performing and Intermedia Arts Collection of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, which pays tribute to Helga de Alvear, one of Spain’s most renowned gallery owners. Afterwards, the King and Queen visited the Berlin City Hall and the Brandenburg Gate, where they were received on their arrival by the mayor-governor Franziska Giffey.
Frankfurt Book Fair
At midday, the King and Queen traveled to Frankfurt, where, together with the President of Germany and his wife, Elke Bündenbender, they inaugurated the Frankfurt Book Fair, where Spain is the guest of honor. The inauguration was also attended by the Ministers of Culture of Germany, Claudia Roth, and Spain, Miquel Iceta.
The German president and the King took part in the ceremony, who said that the Fair is “undoubtedly the biggest meeting point for the global publishing sector” and a forum “where not only publishers, but professionals from all the cultural and creative industries come together”, and where “ideas, stories, scripts and content that will reach the shelves of bookstores and homes as well as the screens of the different media that have appeared in our lives are born and exchanged”.
After the speeches, Don Felipe and Doña Letizia witnessed the dialogue between the two guest authors of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2022, Antonio Muñoz Molina and Irene Vallejo, whose works have already been translated into German. Afterwards, they visited the Spanish Pavilion, in which nearly 200 authors, translators and representatives of the book industry are participating and whose program is articulated through more than 50 literary and professional tables that take place both inside and outside the 2,000 square meters occupied by the Spanish Pavilion as Guest of Honor.
In the evening, the King and Queen attended a reception in honor of the President of Germany and his wife, in response to the State Visit. Today, Wednesday, the King and Queen will tour the Spanish exhibitors at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2022 and, later, the King will visit the European Central Bank and, together with the Queen, the headquarters of the Cervantes Institute in Frankfurt, which will conclude the State Visit to Germany.
