Luis Ayllón
His Majesty the King plans to attend the inauguration of Javier Milei as the new president of Argentina, an event that will take place on 10 December in Buenos Aires, but he will not be able to attend that of the Ecuadorian president, Daniel Noboa, which will be held this Thursday.
Although the Casa Rosada has not yet issued invitations to the presidents for the presidential handover ceremony, Zarzuela is working on the possible presence of the monarch at this event, given the close relations that Spain maintains with Argentina.
Don Felipe, who as Prince of Asturias was present at the inaugurations of previous Argentine presidents, delegated his father, King Juan Carlos, to represent Spain at the inauguration of Mauricio Macri in 2015. When Macri lost power to Alberto Fernández in 2019, Don Felipe was unable to attend the latter’s inauguration, because at the time he was consulting with the political groups to form a government after the elections held on 10 November.
On the other hand, the King will not attend the swearing-in of Daniel Noboa as President of Ecuador, which will take place this Thursday. Don Felipe had expressed his wish to be present at the ceremony during the lunch he offered the new Ecuadorian head of state on 3 November, during his visit to Spain.
At that time, the possibility of the inauguration taking place on 30 November or 1 December was being considered, but it was finally brought forward to Thursday, 23 December. Although Zarzuela received the official invitation on Monday, Don Felipe will not be able to attend, because he already had other events scheduled for these days, after having been busy with everything related to the formation of the new Government of Pedro Sánchez and the inaugurations of the new ministers.
Specifically, the King has on his agenda for Wednesday a visit to the Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP) and to the facilities of the Maestranza Aérea de Albacete, and on Thursday he will attend, together with the Queen, the meeting of the Delegate Commission of the Princess of Girona Foundation.
In principle, Spain is expected to be represented by the State Secretary for Latin America, the Caribbean and Spanish in the World, Juan Fernández Trigo, at Noboa’s inauguration as President of Ecuador until May 2025.
