Madrid Goes Red For King Felipe’s Birthday

The iconic Plaza de Cibeles, along with the Palacio de Cibeles and Alcala were illuminated in red this weekend, to celebrate King Philip VI’s 54th birthday yesterday, 30th January.

The king, who has recently returned from a state visit to Honduras and Puerto Rico, spent the day at home with his wife, Queen Letizia and their youngest daughter, the Infanta Sofia at the  Zarzuela Palace.

The Madrid regional premier, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, tweeted her congratulations and thanks for his service.

The king’s reign continues to be overshadowed by his father,the King Emeritus, Juan Carlos, who is reported to be once more angling for a return to Spain if the State Prosecutor’s Office closes his case.

The king emeritus has been in the United Arab Emirates since fleeing Spain in August 2020 amid a series of financial irregularities that led to the Spanish State Prosecutors office opening an official investigation.

In addition the king’s disgraced brother-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarin, has been in more hot water following his recent release from prison for fraud, with the recent publication of photographs of him walking hand in hand with another woman.

In a joint statement released last week, Urdangarin and his wife of 24 years, the Infanta Cristina announced their decision “by common agreement to “interrupt” their marriage.

The couple have three children.

The king will resume his royal duties this week, with a visit to Austria, with Queen Letizia, to lay a memorial wreath to the victims of the Holocaust and in particular to the Spaniards who were imprisoned in the Mauthausen concentration camp.

Some 7,500 Spaniards – mostly Republican exiles who had fled Franco – were imprisoned in the camp, of whom over 4,000 died.

 

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