The Spanish Royal Family and the Barcelona Terrorist Attacks


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Irish family of four being comforted by Felipe and Letizia is so lovely. Particulaly Letizia and the little girl with her broken arm and
her Dad in his bed (so more serious) smiling at then ... family from the Phillipnes who are totally Irish!
 
Dee Anna said:
Irish family of four being comforted by Felipe and Letizia is so lovely. Particulaly Letizia and the little girl with her broken arm and
her Dad in his bed (so more serious) smiling at then ... family from the Phillipnes who are totally Irish!
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Yes it was,I think its the 1st time we've seen Felipe/Letizia get a mention on the Irish news since te abdication of King Juan Carlos.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0819/898545-spain-attack-victims/
 
That's the President of Portugal sitting on the altar next to Letizia. Very nice from him to attend the mass.

I'm kind of surprised that neither Juan Carlos nor Sofia were there though.
 
The King and Queen leaving Mass at the Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona.

 
On the Franco-Iberian Royal Message Board the question has been made, HOW the reaction of the Catalan people was, when the King and Queen arrived to mourn together with them.

The Franco-Iberian Royals Message Board: King and Queen in Barcelona--local reaction

I think, that was a VERY GOOD question, as most people know, that Catalan wants to become independent from Madrid and the rest of Spain.
In the past their antipathy against everything Spanish (and with that the RF) has been shown - or shall I say "Shouted" - loudly towards the King and Queen quite often: I remember one time in the Opera, where it was said that Queen Letizia burst into tears after being boooed by the crowd).

HOWEVER it seems that the Barcelona/Catalan people this time really praised the King and Queen for being with them after the attacks. Example: while laying a wreath at Las Ramblas many people shouted "Viva el Rey" and also the Catalan sentence "we have no fear". No Boooes. Good!

It really seems the Catalan people understand, that in these hard times the Royal Family is united with them. Wonderful sign!

BYe Bine
 
Bine221 said:
On the Franco-Iberian Royal Message Board the question has been made, HOW the reaction of the Catalan people was, when the King and Queen arrived to mourn together with them.

The Franco-Iberian Royals Message Board: King and Queen in Barcelona--local reaction

I think, that was a VERY GOOD question, as most people know, that Catalan wants to become independent from Madrid and the rest of Spain.
In the past their antipathy against everything Spanish (and with that the RF) has been shown - or shall I say "Shouted" - loudly towards the King and Queen quite often: I remember one time in the Opera, where it was said that Queen Letizia burst into tears after being boooed by the crowd).

HOWEVER it seems that the Barcelona/Catalan people this time really praised the King and Queen for being with them after the attacks. Example: while laying a wreath at Las Ramblas many people shouted "Viva el Rey" and also the Catalan sentence "we have no fear". No Boooes. Good!

It really seems the Catalan people understand, that in these hard times the Royal Family is united with them. Wonderful sign!

BYe Bine
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The political situation remains difficult:
The attacks that killed 15 people last week “occurred at the worst moment of the relationship between Catalan and Spanish politicians, and the only thing this has done is to add more tensions below the surface,” said Ramon Perelló, the head of Península, a Barcelona-based publisher.
The attacks have already helped expose the gaps between the Catalan regional and Spanish national governments.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/24/world/europe/barcelona-attacks-tension-catalonia-spain.html

King Felipe to attend a demonstration against terrorism in Barcelona on August 26
Atentado en Barcelona: El Rey asistirá a la manifestación contra el terrorismo en Barcelona | EL MUNDO
 
The Kings has received a massive booing when he arrived at the manifesation, a much worse reception than Rajoy's.
There are many signs against him and the booing is repeated each time he appears on the screen.

Of course he knew what he was getting into when he decided to attend.
 
Of course he had to attend, he gets paid for it. All of us know the headship of the Spanish royal house is the hardest one around, nothing new under the sun today.

Let's not dismiss the impact of this kind of stuff, also. The way the demonstrators are behaving against Felipe and the timing and event could even be positive to him and all he has to do is stand there stone-faced (in which he already has a training, so... :whistling:)
 
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I don't know if hard is the right word to describe it - do we know if he and Letizia went back on vacation between last week's events and the event today? For a royal house that has stated how important being close to the people is to its King and Queen they disappeared pretty quickly after doing the absolute minimum in Barcelona.

From what I've read the royal house tried their best to find a way for the King to miss today's event but in the end they couldn't get him out of it, which should have been obvious from the beginning. I see The Queen was not there. Was there a reason given? The statement they gave last week re: her absence at the minute of silence seems to have raised some eyebrows so maybe no statement is the best option at this point.
 
Here's a video from today,sadly the booing drowned out the applauses,felt sorry for the king.

 
camelot23ca said:
I don't know if hard is the right word to describe it - do we know if he and Letizia went back on vacation between last week's events and the event today? For a royal house that has stated how important being close to the people is to its King and Queen they disappeared pretty quickly after doing the absolute minimum in Barcelona.

From what I've read the royal house tried their best to find a way for the King to miss today's event but in the end they couldn't get him out of it, which should have been obvious from the beginning. I see The Queen was not there. Was there a reason given? The statement they gave last week re: her absence at the minute of silence seems to have raised some eyebrows so maybe no statement is the best option at this point.
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I do not know where you found the information. It is incorrect. King Felipe was there and wanted to be there. It was not the place for Queen Letizia to be there.
 
julia garcia roch said:
I do not know where you found the information. It is incorrect. King Felipe was there and wanted to be there. It was not the place for Queen Letizia to be there.
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Why was it not appropriate for Letizia to be there, (either at the demonstration or at the moment of silence last week)?
 
camelot23ca said:
Why was it not appropriate for Letizia to be there, (either at the demonstration or at the moment of silence last week)?
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Because it's an event of institutional nature. Leaders from all Spanish political parties and all regions were there. None of them brought their spouse.

Not sure why you said Felipe and Letizia did "absolute minimum" in Barcelona? Felipe got back to the country from a private vacation within 18 hours and attended the minute of silence. He and Letizia visited 3 hospitals and Las Ramblas. They attended the memorial service. They spent two and a half days in Barcelona. Now Felipe was back to participate in the demonstration. It's the first time a reigning monarch participating in a public demonstration. What other royals have done more than they did after a terrorist attack?

Queen Elizabeth didn't visit Manchester attack victims until 3 days after the incident. She's no where to be seen after London attacks. She sent her family members instead. King Philippe was criticized for going to a luxury spa in Brittany, France and spending the weekend there when Belgium capital was locked down for six days after Paris attack.
 
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highpriestess said:
Because it's an event of institutional nature. Leaders from all Spanish political parties and all regions were there. None of them brought their spouse.

What did you mean Felipe and Letizia did "absolute minimum" in Barcelona? Felipe got back to the country from a private vacation within 18 hours and attended the minute of silence. He and Letizia visited 3 hospitals and the memorial service. They spent two and a half days in Barcelona. Now Felipe was back to participate in the demonstration. It's the first time a reigning monarch participating in a public demonstration. What other royals have done more than they did after a terrorist attack?

Queen Elizabeth didn't visit Manchester attack victims until 3 days after the incident. She's no where to be seen after London attacks. She sent her family members instead. King Philippe was criticized for going to a luxury spa in Brittany, France and spending the weekend there when Belgium capital was locked down for six days after Paris attack.
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On reading your post I'm going to amend my statement - I actually don't have any major criticism of the way Felipe has behaved since the attacks. He showed up for the minute of silence and was there for the memorial service and now the demonstration. I think that plus making a personal gesture toward the victims by visiting the hospitals was an adequate response. I will say that, given the political situation in Spain, and the fact that he's a new monarch trying to differentiate the "new" royal family and way of doing things from that of his father's court, I think he missed a big opportunity by not being more visible this past week. He didn't need to be constantly in everyone's face but a couple of public appearances by the family - taking the kids to the memorial in Barcelona, for example - would have shown that, in troubled times, the Spanish royal family was in Spain, at the service of the Spanish people. I think the fact that instead they dropped out of sight for the week and may well have chosen to go back on vacation wasn't the best choice to make.

I don't think Letizia missing the minute of silence or the demonstration was acceptable. Barcelona deserved better. First, I think it's a stretch to describe events in which hundreds of thousands of regular people participated as "institutional." But regardless, she's the Queen of Spain, not a politician's wife, so I don't see why she doesn't belong at an event of an institutional nature. Whether she likes it or not she's part of the institution!
 
It's the King and the King's men who decide who attends an institutional event, not the Queen. Based on a Spanish article, it's the King's men who decided to made Felipe the sole protagonist in institutional events. Queen Sofia visited the hospital and attended the memorial service after Madrid bombing, exactly as Queen Letizia did.

What could they do by hanging around Barcelona between last Sunday and today? Walking the street of Barcelona? Offering hugs? It's not like they could direct the police's work. Actually, their presence adds pressure on security.

King Felipe did more than his father did. Queen Letizia did exactly what Queen Sofia did. I would like to hear what other royal consorts did more than Letizia did. It seems Letizia just can never do enough or do it right in some people's eyes.
 
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highpriestess said:
It's the King and the King's men who decide who attend an institutional event, not the Queen. Based on a Spanish article, it's the King's men who decided to made Felipe the sole protagonist in institutional events. Queen Sofia visited the hospital and attended the memorial service after Madrid bombing, exactly as Queen Letizia did.

What could they do by hanging around Barcelona between last Sunday and today? Walking the street of Barcelona? Offering hugs? It's not like they could direct the police's work. Actually, their presence adds pressure on security.

King Felipe did more than his father did. Queen Letizia did exactly what Queen Sofia did. I would like to hear what other royal consorts did more than Letizia did. It seems Letizia just can never do enough or do it right in some people's eyes.
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If Letizia wanted to go to the minute of silence and demonstration but couldn't because her husband and/or employees of the royal court decided she shouldn't then fair enough. If you have the link to the article you mentioned above please send it to me because I'd be interested in reading about the rationale behind this decision. I've read the statement about Letizia not participating in institutional acts in general and thought it was vague. If the royal house can clarify their reasoning I think they should. As it stands the statement is open to various interpretations, some less charitable than others.

Comparing the reaction of different royal families to different terrorist attacks, or even the reaction of the former Spanish royal family to the current one is like comparing Letizia to a politician's wife - apples and oranges. Trying to match things up exactly won't work because the composition of the family has changed.. if we were trying to do that I would say three members of the royal family should have gone to the demonstration in Barcelona because Felipe, Elena and Cristina all went to the demonstration after the Madrid attack in 2004. Or maybe one King and one Queen equals a Prince and two Infantas?

I don't think I said or implied that Felipe and Letizia should have hung around Barcelona all last week "giving out hugs." If that's how you choose to interpret my post then I think it's time to agree to disagree rather than keep going round in circles.
 
camelot23ca said:
I don't know if hard is the right word to describe it - do we know if he and Letizia went back on vacation between last week's events and the event today? For a royal house that has stated how important being close to the people is to its King and Queen they disappeared pretty quickly after doing the absolute minimum in Barcelona.

From what I've read the royal house tried their best to find a way for the King to miss today's event but in the end they couldn't get him out of it, which should have been obvious from the beginning. I see The Queen was not there. Was there a reason given? The statement they gave last week re: her absence at the minute of silence seems to have raised some eyebrows so maybe no statement is the best option at this point.
Click to expand...

Letizia shouldn't be there. Look around the head of the march, no politician's spouses are part of it and neither should be the head of state's spouse. This is being played at a different league from some of your typical "Letizia is not doing the right thing". Frankly, it gets old at times like this.

The Spanish Royal House clearly stated last week the King is the one representing Spain in important institutional acts. Not him and his spouse.
 
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camelot23ca said:
I don't know if hard is the right word to describe it - do we know if he and Letizia went back on vacation between last week's events and the event today? For a royal house that has stated how important being close to the people is to its King and Queen they disappeared pretty quickly after doing the absolute minimum in Barcelona.

From what I've read the royal house tried their best to find a way for the King to miss today's event but in the end they couldn't get him out of it, which should have been obvious from the beginning. I see The Queen was not there. Was there a reason given? The statement they gave last week re: her absence at the minute of silence seems to have raised some eyebrows so maybe no statement is the best option at this point.
Click to expand...

Its possible that the girls stayed at the holiday destination and Letizia went back again, or was delayed travelling home with them because they cannot use the same plane, but in general their vacation was pretty much over when the attacks happened.

In Spain, there is lots of critizism in the pink press, not only the absence of Letizia in the first act (labelling it 'institutional' is a lame excuse to many), but also the old topic that the destination of the private holidays is not being disclosed, Felipe was not in Spain when the attack happened, where was he?

Then the photos in the hospital, some media thought is was pathetic because some of the people visited had foreign nationality, had no idea who was coming to comfort them with full press trailing along, some of them were children whose faces were not pixelled out, being exposed to full public attention by a woman who fights tooth and nail for the privacy of ther own daughters who are not private persons but public figures.
 
camelot23ca said:
If Letizia wanted to go to the minute of silence and demonstration but couldn't because her husband and/or employees of the royal court decided she shouldn't then fair enough. If you have the link to the article you mentioned above please send it to me because I'd be interested in reading about the rationale behind this decision. I've read the statement about Letizia not participating in institutional acts in general and thought it was vague. If the royal house can clarify their reasoning I think they should. As it stands the statement is open to various interpretations, some less charitable than others.

Comparing the reaction of different royal families to different terrorist attacks, or even the reaction of the former Spanish royal family to the current one is like comparing Letizia to a politician's wife - apples and oranges. Trying to match things up exactly won't work because the composition of the family has changed.. if we were trying to do that I would say three members of the royal family should have gone to the demonstration in Barcelona because Felipe, Elena and Cristina all went to the demonstration after the Madrid attack in 2004. Or maybe one King and one Queen equals a Prince and two Infantas?

I don't think I said or implied that Felipe and Letizia should have hung around Barcelona all last week "giving out hugs." If that's how you choose to interpret my post then I think it's time to agree to disagree rather than keep going round in circles.
Click to expand...

But you are comparing apples and oranges. Maybe being an American you are so used to your President's daughter being part of institutional activities even though no one elected her that you think being a queen works in the same way. It doesn't. At least not in Spain.

Letizia is a king's consort. In real terms it means being the spouse of the head of State. Institutionally there is little difference with Melania except Letizia has the title of "queen" and much less freedom. Her institutional role is very limited as consort of the king. I understand many of you can't differentiate from the English crown and/or Queen Elizabeth to any other world crown or consort queen; however you are doing yourself no favours by always comparing how "queens behave" in different royal houses without a minimal understanding of their country history and culture.

Please, learn about Spain and its political situation before making comments that frankly, do not apply to us. Not long ago on the Danish thread about Henrik, many said that we can't compare cultures, politics and social issues among countries to make it easier to find a common denominator with royals. It applies to Spain as well.

Felipe is Spanish, not Danish, English or American. He swears the Constitution and governments of Spain. It's why he is our head of state and receives instructions from OUR government and that includes Queen Letizia, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia about institutional representation.
 
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This is one:
http://www.revistavanityfair.es/rea...n-barcelona-atentados-letizia-felipe-vi/25762

Something else to consider: Barcelona attack happened at around 5PM. The minute of silence happened at noon the next day. Felipe probably caught the first flight directly to Barcelona the next morning. Letizia had to take a different flight with the girls. Felipe and Leonor couldn't fly together. They probably had to fly back to Madrid so the girls could stay home with a care-taker (grandma Paloma?) before Letizia could get to Barcelona. I doubt she could get to the minute of silence on Saturday.

I'm not sure why Letizia is expected to do more than politicians' spouses, Queen Sofia and all other royal consorts, even monarchs did. :confused::unsure: it seems there's an impossible high standard for Letizia and there's another standard for other royals.
 
Duke of Marmalade said:
Its possible that the girls stayed at the holiday destination and Letizia went back again, or was delayed travelling home with them because they cannot use the same plane, but in general their vacation was pretty much over when the attacks happened.

In Spain, there is lots of critizism in the pink press, not only the absence of Letizia in the first act (labelling it 'institutional' is a lame excuse to many), but also the old topic that the destination of the private holidays is not being disclosed, Felipe was not in Spain when the attack happened, where was he?

Then the photos in the hospital, some media thought is was pathetic because some of the people visited had foreign nationality, had no idea who was coming to comfort them with full press trailing along, some of them were children whose faces were not pixelled out, being exposed to full public attention by a woman who fights tooth and nail for the privacy of ther own daughters who are not private persons but public figures.
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No, the pink press didn't like Letizia's absence because they couldn't make money out of her. Letizia sells much more than Felipe does.

I don't think you understand the full context of the controversy about the photos. It's Catalonia's politicians tried to make a political issue out of the photos. They told the press they would ask Casa Real to take down photos of those children from its website, saying it violated those children's privacy.

Casa Real immediately responded that the Royal Household's protocol staff visited the hospitals the day before Felipe and Letizia's visit. They asked for explicit permission from the hospital, the patient and the patient's parents if the patient was minor. Only when they had the consent from all parties, the photographer of the Casa Real would enter the room to take photos. The press wasn't allowed. That's why they visited 3 hospitals and only photos of two rooms were released. Casa Real said the photos would stay up because they had consent. Catalan politicians had been silent after that response.
 
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highpriestess said:
No, the pink press didn't like Letizia's absence because they couldn't make money out of her. Letizia sells much more than Felipe does.

If you want to mention the controversy about the photos in the hospital, please provide the full context. Otherwise, it's misleading. It's Catalonia's politicians tried to make a political issue out of the photos. They told the press they would ask Casa Real to take down photos of those children from its website, saying it violated those children's privacy.

Casa Real immediately responded that the Royal Household's protocol staff visited the hospitals the day before Felipe and Letizia's visit. They asked for explicit permission from the hospital, the patient and the patient's parents if the patient was minor. Only when they had the consent from all parties, the photographer of the Casa Real would enter the room to take photos. The press wasn't allowed. That's why they visited 3 hospitals and only photos of two rooms were released. Casa Real said the photos would stay up because they had consent. Catalan politicians had been silent after that response.
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The political anarchist Catalan party (extreme left) called for a show of independence and booing to the King during the march against terrorism. They chose to politicize the march hoping it will get them more exposure internationally.

As to the photos, the CUP (anarchists) thought the royal house would sink to their own level - publishing pictures of kids during the Diada without permission. The whole thing deflated when royal house stated that all the photographs had the parent's consents.

https://elpais.com/ccaa/2017/08/26/catalunya/1503779479_930954.html

http://www.elnacional.cat/es/politica/casa-real-ninos-heridos-atentados_184977_102.html


The Royal House will not remove the photos with children injured in the attacks
El Nacional
Photo: @CasaReal
Barcelona. Wednesday, August 23, 2017
2 minutes
Kings visit hospital

The Royal House has said Wednesday that it will not remove from its Twitter account or from the website the photographs of Saturday with children and adolescents injured in the Barcelona attacks as they had prior authorization to make and publish the images.

In this way, the Royal House has responded to the Department of Labor, Social Affairs and Families of the Generalitat after this conselleria issued a statement asking that the photographs in which children and adolescents appear Wounded in terrorist attacks since "the dissemination of this type of images implies an interference with the right to honor, privacy and the very image of underage victims."

For its part, Casa del Rey assures that at all times prior authorization of the wounded and their families, as well as with the knowledge and agreement of those responsible for each hospital. The day before the visit, added the note, the Protocol services of the Casa del Rey and the Generalitat de Catalunya, in the presence of the medical management of the respective hospitals, visited and requested "express" permission from each hospital, patient And family (if they were minors), to visit and make images for later distribution to the media.

Only in cases in which explicit permission was granted came chambers in the visit of King Felipe and Queen Letizia, who were accompanied by the Minister of Health, Dolors Montserrat , and by the Minister of Health, Toni Comín , as well as by the Address and medical team of the corresponding hospital. Therefore, "the use of images of minors in this visit was done with the authorization of their respective parents," adds the King's House.
 
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