12 Oct, 2020 @ 16:08
1 min read

King leads subdued celebrations to mark Spain’s National Day

Rey 2

SPAIN’S royal family have presided over a socially distanced ‘parade’ to celebrate the country’s National Day.

Just 520 soldiers instead of the usual total of several thousand  took part in this year’s event, with King Felipe, Queen Letizia and their daughters Leonor and Sofia all wearing masks for the occasion.

Rey 1
SALUTE: King Felipe

Normally the Plaza de la Armenia, next to the Royal Palace in Madrid, is packed for the celebration that marks the day in 1492 when Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World. It is also known as the Dia de Hispanidad.

But this year coronavirus restrictions – Madrid has largely been put into lockdown – meant the affair was subdued.

Usually officials including members of the regional governments and foreign diplomats attend, but this year VIP guests were conspicuous by their absence as they abided by the coronavirus rules.

There was however a flypast by jets trailing red, yellow and white smoke to represent Spain’s colours.

If you have any information about the Maddie disappearance, get in touch with newsdesk@theolivepress.es.

Dilip Kuner

Dilip Kuner is a NCTJ-trained journalist whose first job was on the Folkestone Herald as a trainee in 1988.
He worked up the ladder to be chief reporter and sub editor on the Hastings Observer and later news editor on the Bridlington Free Press.
At the time of the first Gulf War he started working for the Sunday Mirror, covering news stories as diverse as Mick Jagger’s wedding to Jerry Hall (a scoop gleaned at the bar at Heathrow Airport) to massive rent rises at the ‘feudal village’ of Princess Diana’s childhood home of Althorp Park.
In 1994 he decided to move to Spain with his girlfriend (now wife) and brought up three children here.
He initially worked in restaurants with his father, before rejoining the media world in 2013, working in the local press before becoming a copywriter for international firms including Accenture, as well as within a well-known local marketing agency.
He joined the Olive Press as a self-employed journalist during the pandemic lock-down, becoming news editor a few months later.
Since then he has overseen the news desk and production of all six print editions of the Olive Press and had stories published in UK national newspapers and appeared on Sky News.

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