Spanish-French State Visit Cancelled

The Spanish state visit to France has been cancelled following the Germanwings air crash in southern France.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia first met with the French Prime Minister, Minister Manuel Valls, who was born in Barcelona, for a welcoming ceremony at the Hotel de Invalides.

Then came the news of the air crash as they were about to meet with President François Hollande. After an audience, the trio held a press conference outside the Elysee Palace announcing the state visit would not go forward. King Felipe and President Hollande both expressed their condolences to the families of the victims, while the King thanked the President for the French efforts in locating the crash site.

In the afternoon, Felipe and Letizia visited the crisis centre established to work on the disaster at the Interior Ministry headquarters, where they were briefed on the rescue operation, before returning to Spain.

Germanwings Flight 4U9525 travelling from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, Germany crashed in the French Alps near the village of Seyne-les-Alpes on Tuesday morning, local time. All 150 passengers and crew – whose nationalities were heavily Spanish and German – were killed.

Filed under Spain
Tagged Felipe VI of Spain, France, President Hollande of France, Queen Letizia of Spain, State Visit.