The Diplomat
The Princess of Asturias will travel to Portugal on July 12 to make her first official trip abroad, as reported in a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Doña Leonor, who will be accompanied by the head of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, will be received at the Belem Palace by the Portuguese president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who is the one who made the invitation. Rebelo de Sousa maintains a close relationship with Felipe and Letizia and wanted to underline with this invitation the ties of friendship between Spain and Portugal, according to diplomatic sources.
The statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressly states that the choice of Portugal as the first destination of an official trip abroad by the Princess of Asturias “reflects and reinforces the ties of fraternity and closeness that unite both countries.”
Likewise, it indicates that the visit “will have a particular focus on the protection of the environment and the conservation of the oceans, priority issues for Portugal and Spain.”
Finally, he reports that Albares, together with his Portuguese counterpart, Paulo Rangel, will participate in the different institutional meetings that will take place in Lisbon during the official visit.
Doña Leonor’s trip will last only one day and, predictably, in addition to going to the Belem Palace, she will include a visit to the neighboring Jeronimos Monastery.
The announcement of the trip of the Princess of Asturias and her accompaniment through Albares, comes after the controversy caused by the fact that no minister accompanied King Felipe VI on the tour he made this week to the Baltic Countries, and to which The head of Defense, Margarita Robles, only joined on the last day, in Latvia.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs will also accompany Don Felipe to the inauguration of the new president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, which will take place next Monday, July 1. Albares did not attend, however, the inauguration of the President of Argentina, Javier Milei, last December, in Buenos Aires, in which the Monarch was accompanied by a Secretary of State.
