The Kings close the year with a state trip to Italy

The Kings close the year of trips abroad with a state visit to Italy. This Tuesday, the Monarch and his wife will travel to Rome, the capital of the country, where they will be received, first of all, by the Spanish community, and then by the president of the republic, Sergio Mattarella and the rest of the State authorities, including Prime Minister Georgia Meloni. The Kings will leave Madrid on Tuesday at noon and fly to Rome, from where on Thursday they will travel to Naples. There, the Federico II University will appoint a doctor for the sake of honor to Philip VI. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, will accompany the Kings on this last state trip of 2024.

This visit is part of “reciprocity”, they say in La Zarzuela, with the Italian head of state, who made a high-level institutional trip to Madrid in 2021. This trip takes place within the “good relations that both countries maintain, which enjoy a long historical tradition”, as could be seen last September at the Cotec Forum in the Canary Islands where both heads of state met as they do every year, Foreign Affairs explains in a note.

The last state trip to Italy was made by the emeritus kings, Juan Carlos I and Sofia, in 1998. And the current one will be loaded with symbolism, which abounds in the King’s House. One of those significant moments will happen on Wednesday the 11th, when in the Senate the restoration of some fabrics in some friezes that represent the moment of the coronation of Emperor Charles V will be unveiled. Felipe VI will also address the Chambers. This is a gesture of deference, since the last non-Italian head of state to have this privilege was Pope John Paul II, according to La Zarzuela.

Upon arrival, on Tuesday, Felipe VI and Letizia Ortiz will be received by 500 representatives from all sectors of society (cultural, economic, business, sports…) who belong to the Spanish community in Italy. Additionally, they will visit the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome, which turns 50, and will hold a brief meeting with Hispanicists. The next day, Wednesday, the most institutional and political day will begin, in which the Kings will be received by the authorities such as the head of state and president, Sergio Mattarella; the prime minister, the ultra Georgia Meloni ―with whom they will have lunch at Villa Pamphilli―; and the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri. This second day will end with a sober gala dinner – without tiaras or voluminous dresses.

On the last day of the state trip, Thursday, the Kings will have separate agendas. While Felipe VI attends an Italian-Spanish economic and business forum to promote relations between the two countries – as he did during his visit to the Netherlands last April, as is common on a state trip – the queen Letizia will hold meetings with Spanish citizens who work at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano has been a special ambassador of this organization since 2015 and nutrition is one of the topics that occupies the most prominence on her day-to-day agenda. Afterwards, the Kings will move to Naples, a city with historical ties with Spain, since the Federico II University will appoint a doctor for the sake of honor to Felipe VI.