Speech of His Majesty the King of Spain, in the receipt offered by the Town Hall of Luxembourg.
" Mister Mayor,
On having answered to your nice words of welcome, the Queen and I are grateful to you for the affectionate reception that the City of Luxembourg dedicates us in our second Visit of State to this dear country
.
First of all, I want to demonstrate the special emotion that produces us to be again in this city, Patrimony of the Humanity, with whom join so many past and present links.
For his history and his geography, for his vitality and for his capacity of renovation, Luxembourg symbolizes the strength and the dynamism of the big European values, in a fruitful amalgam of tradition and modernity.
Proof of it are the big changes that they appreciate in the external physiognomy of the city, which officially we visit for the first time twenty-seven years ago.
There fill with admiration the modern buildings of the European Institutions, the innovative design of the "Love of music" or the purity of lines of the " Museum of Contemporary Art Grand Duke Juan ", that reflect the vibrant and energetic atmosphere of this cosmopolitan city, integration of more diver cultures and nationalities.
Mister Mayor,
For the city of Luxembourg, the year 2007 has begun with a special emphasis in the cultural exchanges. Many looks turn these days towards the European Capital of the Culture, which Luxembourg and the Grand Region show.
An occasion of special interest, which is going to make possible multiple opportunities of meeting and of cultural and personal enrichment for all, and that reinforces and projects towards the exterior the image of Luxembourg.
In this splendid frame its registers the Exhibition dedicated to Pierre-Ernest de Mansfeld , that tomorrow we will have the honor of inaugurating together with Their Royal Highnesses The Grand Dukes.
Governor of Luxembourg in the imperial epoch, Mansfeld was a real man of the Renaissance: courageous soldier, loyal civil servant and patron of the arts. His personality personifies with singular lucky the ideal ones of the European citizen, and the better of the roots comune to our contries.
It takes me pleasure, so, specially that the National Patimony of Spain and the Prado Museum have collaborated in the organization of this admirable sample.
Mister Mayor,
I would want to conclude my words in this pleasing reunion, doing votes in order that our fellow-citizens continue pressing hard their links of friendship and affection, on the solid base of the principles and values that, happily, we share.
With this spirit, I wish you all, Mister Mayor, together with all the members of the Municipal Corporation, the best successes in your labor, in benefit of the city and of the citizens of Luxembourg.
Thank you very much. "
Source
Casa de Su Majestad el Rey de España
