State visit from Colombia to Spain. May 3-4, 2023


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lula

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State Visit of Their Excellencies the President of the Republic of Colombia, Mr. Gustavo Francisco Petro and the First Lady, Mrs. Verónica Alcocer

King Felipe and Queen Letizia on the morning of the day, 3 will officially receive the President of Colombia and the First Lady at the Royal Palace of Madrid.

At noon, King Felipe will hold a meeting with President Petro at the Zarzuela Palace and then the King and Queen will offer lunch to the President of Colombia and his wife.

At night, at the Royal Palace of Madrid, the gala dinner offered in honor of the President of Colombia and the First Lady will take place.

The following day, His Excellencies the President of Colombia and the First Lady will offer a reception at the Royal Palace of El Pardo in honor of Their Majesties the King and Queen.

https://www.casareal.es/ES/Actividades/Paginas/actividades_actividades_detalle.aspx?data=15707
 
State Visit of Their Excellencies the President of the Republic of Colombia, Mr. Gustavo Francisco Petro and the First Lady, Mrs. Verónica Alcocer

King Felipe and Queen Letizia on the morning of the day, 3 will officially receive the President of Colombia and the First Lady at the Royal Palace of Madrid.

At noon, King Felipe will hold a meeting with President Petro at the Zarzuela Palace and then the King and Queen will offer lunch to the President of Colombia and his wife.

At night, at the Royal Palace of Madrid, the gala dinner offered in honor of the President of Colombia and the First Lady will take place.

The following day, His Excellencies the President of Colombia and the First Lady will offer a reception at the Royal Palace of El Pardo in honor of Their Majesties the King and Queen.

https://www.casareal.es/ES/Actividades/Paginas/actividades_actividades_detalle.aspx?data=15707


Lovely that there will be a return reception at the Royal Palace of El Pardo.
 
President Petro was awarded with the Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Isabel the Catholic and the First Lady the Dame Grand Cross of the same order
 
President Petro was awarded with the Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Isabel the Catholic and the First Lady the Dame Grand Cross of the same order


Pretty much the standard decorations for a first-time visit by a Latin American president. Brazil's president Lula da Silva and his late first wife were given the same decorations on their state visit during the former King's reign.


The Order of Isabella the Catholic was established in 1815 originally as the "Royal and American Order of Isabella the Catholic" to reward services to the Crown in the Spanish colonial empire, so it has a very strong historical link to Latin America. Nowadays it is awarded to both Spanish and foreign citizens in recognition of "extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations and cooperation with other nations". The Minister of Foreign Affairs serves as the Grand Chancellor of the Order and is responsible for proposing the awards for approval by the Council of Ministers. As a state order, awards are on the recommendation of the government, rather than the King personally. The King, however, is still the Grand Master of the Order and all order letters bear a stamp of his royal signature. Awards are made public by royal decree signed by the King and countersigned by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and published in the State Gazette (BOE).



A visiting Latin American president will be typically awarded the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic on his or her first state visit to Spain and may be upgraded later to the Collar of the Order of Charles III in subsequent state visits, when applicable.
 
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Is it normal to offer a lunch on the first day of a State Visit ?

I can't recall this happening before!
 
Is it normal to offer a lunch on the first day of a State Visit ?

I can't recall this happening before!

Yes, they always offer a lunch at Zarzuela on the first day of the visit.
 
The President could not be bothered to wear proper attire. Pfff...
 
The President could not be bothered to wear proper attire. Pfff...

The new President of Colombia is a socialist who may object to wearing white tie and tails for ideological reasons. The left-wing president of Brazil, Lula da Silva, also wore business suits in all the state visits he made to European kingdoms, including Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and UK if I recall it correctly.
 
The new President of Colombia is a socialist who may object to wearing white tie and tails for ideological reasons. The left-wing president of Brazil, Lula da Silva, also wore business suits in all the state visits he made to European kingdoms, including Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and UK if I recall it correctly.

The problem with the president of Colombia is that he also makes offensive comments regarding etiquette... when other presidents with the same ideology simply dress as they want and keep quiet. The irony is that while he criticizes that the tailcoat is for the elite, his wife wears Loubutin shoes.

When King Felipe attended his inauguration, the president used it to criticize Spain and make absurd polemics. The Spanish Royal Family has had relationships with many Latin American left-wing presidents, but Petro has been one of the most disrespectful in his comments.

I think that Queen Letizia really wanted to fulfill her role correctly, but without this visit having a great impact or her looks causing many comments. And the poor queen has to travel to Colombia on a cooperation trip in June, so they'll give her a hard time.:ermm:
 
The problem with the president of Colombia is that he also makes offensive comments regarding etiquette... when other presidents with the same ideology simply dress as they want and keep quiet. The irony is that while he criticizes that the tailcoat is for the elite, his wife wears Loubutin shoes.

When King Felipe attended his inauguration, the president used it to criticize Spain and make absurd polemics. The Spanish Royal Family has had relationships with many Latin American left-wing presidents, but Petro has been one of the most disrespectful in his comments.

I think that Queen Letizia really wanted to fulfill her role correctly, but without this visit having a great impact or her looks causing many comments. And the poor queen has to travel to Colombia on a cooperation trip in June, so they'll give her a hard time.:ermm:

Underwhelming, really.
Thanks for pointing out that the wife had none of it when it comes to condemning elite dressing.

Sorry, I did not really get the meaning of your last sentence, Letizia was critizised for her looks this time? Thanks.
 
The problem with the president of Colombia is that he also makes offensive comments regarding etiquette... when other presidents with the same ideology simply dress as they want and keep quiet. The irony is that while he criticizes that the tailcoat is for the elite, his wife wears Loubutin shoes.

When King Felipe attended his inauguration, the president used it to criticize Spain and make absurd polemics. The Spanish Royal Family has had relationships with many Latin American left-wing presidents, but Petro has been one of the most disrespectful in his comments.


So why invite him to a State Visit to Spain at all
 
Sorry, I did not really get the meaning of your last sentence, Letizia was critizised for her looks this time? Thanks.

No, she hasn't been criticized... but I think it's evident that in general her looks have been quite discreet on this visit. The previous weeks she has worn more interesting dresses, and in recent state visits she has worn more jewelry.

So why invite him to a State Visit to Spain at all

For multiple reasons...

- Colombia has traditionally been one of Spain's most important partners in Latin America.
- Podemos is part of the Spanish government, and they are allies of Petro.
- Spain will occupy the rotating presidency of the European Union from July, and the Europe-Latin America summit is being prepared.
- Many Colombians live in Spain, and immigration from that country has been growing in recent years.
 
The King looked every inch the Monarch at the State Gala and rightly so,the queen has never to my knowledge appeared as a shrinking violet but could have done something at least with her hair for this state visit. Letizia has always had issues with lack of effort and finishing touches so this is really nothing new.

If Zarzuela was worried about criticism they could have downgraded the dress code to business attire.
Hopefully the President of Colombia kept it civil during his visit as he was a guest of the Spanish.
 
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