The Diplomat
The King and Queen of Spain began their State visit to Italy on Tuesday, which included on its first day a meeting with the Association of Italian Hispanists and with a representation of the more than 33 Spaniards residing in the country.
The State visit, in which the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and the Secretary of State for Trade, Amparo López Senovilla, also participated, responds to the invitation of the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella. The State visit of Felipe VI and Doña Letizia will conclude on Thursday and includes Rome and Naples.
The King and Queen arrived in Rome in the afternoon, where they were received by the Italian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, María Tripodi; the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Riccardo Guariglia (former ambassador to Spain), and the ambassadors of the two countries.
Later, Don Felipe and Doña Letizia went to the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome to meet with the Association of Italian Hispanists, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of this institution.
The day concluded, as is usual during state visits, with a reception for the Spanish community at the residence of the Spanish Ambassador in Rome, which was attended by nearly 500 people.
During the meeting, the Monarch spoke a few words in which he stated that “today Spain contributes value in Italy in many ways and it does so thanks to the dedication and commitment of each and every one of you.”
In this regard, the King reminded the “more than 33,000 Spaniards who live here, and those you represent,” that they contribute “value to a country that has welcomed you with open arms and to which we thank you for its immense hospitality.”
Among this Spanish community, Felipe VI made special mention of scientists and researchers, artists, designers and intellectuals, sportsmen, businessmen, the “hundred soldiers currently stationed in this country, within the framework of our bilateral relations, or in that of NATO or the EU” in “uncertain and volatile times such as the present”, and Spanish teachers and students in Italy (more than 12,000 Erasmus students each year).
He also remembered the workers of Spanish institutions or international organisations based in Italy, “from the embassy, with its general consulates, sectorial councils, Cervantes Institutes, the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome, the Spanish Lyceum or the Spanish School of History and Archaeology, to the United Nations agencies based in Rome (FAO, WFP, IFAD or UNIDROIT) or the European institutions that are also in the country”.
Wednesday will be the most relevant day at an institutional level. The King and Queen will be officially welcomed at the Quirinal Palace by President Mattarella and his daughter Laura, they will lay a wreath in homage to the unknown soldier and will meet with Giorgia Meloni, President of the Council of Ministers, who will offer them lunch. In the afternoon, they will visit the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The day will conclude with a gala dinner in their honour offered by the President of the Italian Republic.
King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia made several state visits to Italy in 1977, 1981 and 1998. For their part, the current King and Queen made an official trip to Italy in 2014 and Don Felipe did so in 2001 as Prince of Asturias.
