This week Felipe and Letizia made their first official visit to Latin America since becoming King and Queen, on a three-day State Visit to Mexico. Felipe referred to the trip as being of “paramount importance, not only because we are strategic partners, but because we share a common cultural history.”
The Royal couple received an official welcome from President Enrique Peña Nieto and his wife, Angélica Rivera, at Mexico City’s Campo Marte military camp. Later in the evening, they were honoured with the title of Distinguished Guests of Mexico City, along with keys to the city, from mayor Miguel Angel Mancera.
Day one of the tour concluded with a state dinner at the National Palace, where Felipe made his first speech emphasising the importance of Spanish-Mexican relations.
The next morning, Queen Letizia payed a visit to the Latin American Alliance for Rare Diseases in the city of Guadalajara. Around 42 million people in Latin America suffer from such diseases.
Following this, the King and Queen attended the inauguration of the Encuentro Empresarial México-España (Mexico-Spain Business Meeting) along with President Peña Nieto and his wife. There, Felipe made a speech emphasising the strong economic links between the two nations.
The couple dined at the Spanish Embassy alongside a number of Mexican elites that evening. The King also unveiled a new Spanish language proficiency certificate as until now, no such certificate was available, despite Spanish being the fourth most spoken language in the world.
While day two centred on buisness, day three provided the opurtunity for Felipe and Letizia to take in some of the more cultural aspects of the country. They travelled to the northern state of Zacatecas. The first stop was the Colonial Museum of Guadalupe where they were treated to a brief tour.
Following that they headed to the Museum of Abstract Art ‘Manuel Felguérez’. While there, the King made a speech to close a symposium, ‘Past, present and future of relations between Mexico and Spain’. He took the opportunity to reflect on their visit, talking about how they were able to appreciate Spain’s historical ties with Mexico, whilst also developing their future commitments.
Before leaving Mexico, the Royal couple had one final engagement, where they met with some of the Spanish residents of the Zacatecas community.
Feature photo: Cancillería del Ecuador