• Royal House. Queen Letizia triumphs in the streets of Spain
  • Royal House.The seven destinations of the summer holidays of the Kings Felipe and Letizia (plus one unpublished)

A report by Brand Finance, the UK's independent trade valuation consultant, underlined three years ago the bargain for the British by having their royal family, since each year, under normal circumstances, it contributes to generating some £ 1.8bn per different concepts, among which his work in the expansion of national trade and the attraction of tourists to Britain stand out . Specifically, this firm imputed 550 million pounds to Elizabeth II and her extensive offspring as magnets for visitors. Just the fact that London and the whole of the United Kingdom are in the media of the five continents every day for monitoring the activities of the Windsor has an impact in economic andenviable country brand generation .

We do not have similar studies in Spain. But the agents of the tourism sector and the different governments are equally aware of the enormous capacity that our Royal Family has to promote this country as a great tourist destination. This has been one of the tasks of the Crown since the establishment of the Monarchy in 1975.

Not surprisingly, in the midst of the biggest crisis in decades, due to the devastating effects of the coronavirus , as soon as the state of alarm has risen, the priority objective of the Kings is to sell Spain, with a well-thought-out strategy to attract foreign tourists and also try to reactivate the vacation plans among the Spanish, transmitting an image of security and well-being of our country.

María Cristina de Austria fell in love with San Sebastián since her first visit in 1887. Between 1893 and 1928 she went to the city every summer. It felt like nowhere in Miramar, the palace that was built in the style of the mansions of the English countryside. In the photo, upon arrival by train, in 1915.EFE

Last week, the Monarchs presided over the Spain for sure campaign at the Prado Museum , in which figures as internationally known as Rafa Nadal, Ferrán Adrià, Andrés Iniesta, Valentín Fuster, Isabel Coixet, Pau Gasol or the Roca brothers are involved , and which aims to relaunch the image of Spain beyond our borders. And this week Don Felipe and Doña Letizia have started their tour of all the autonomous communities in which, on the one hand, they will thank different organizations for their role during the pandemic, and, on the other, they will promote the country as a tourist destination. Thus it is understood that the Canary and Balearic Islands have been chosen as the first stops.

The visit of the Kings to Mallorca on Thursday, where they attended, among other places, a hotel that participates in the pilot program for the accommodation of German tourists after the pandemic, is an accolade for a sector that is experiencing its darkest hours.

Isabel II alternated summers in San Sebastián and Santander since the mid-19th century to enjoy its wave baths. Her grandson Alfonso XIII, already as King, was a regular in the Cantabrian city. In the photo, from the late 1920s, with his wife, Ena, all his children, and several noblemen of the Court.

Now is the time to focus on work. But in Zarzuela they are aware of the enormous expectation that this year's Royal Family vacation also generates , which will be unusual for too many reasons. Far from being frivolous, the Kings and their daughters are more obliged than ever to spend the summer, that concept with so many petty-bourgeois resonances that, in the case of the Head of State, this 2020 should serve to transmit to the world signs of security, confidence and of stability.

Nobody would see well that Don Felipe and Doña Letizia maintained in the current circumstances the custom of making a long private getaway to some international destination in August, as they have been doing since they got married as soon as they finish their stay in Palma. This year, the Kings must act as the main ambassadors of national tourism above any desire for leisure, tranquility and privacy. Recall that, in 2010, Doña Letizia snapped at a LOC journalist "Do you think this is a vacation? ", Implying that all the institutional obligations in the Balearic capital and the continuous monitoring of the press prevent them from enjoying Marivent of what we understand by disconnection and rest.

Thus, LOC allows itself to recommend to Their Majesties a fabulous itinerary that they could carry out this year together with the Princess of Asturias and the Infanta Sofía following in the footsteps of their ancestors , staying in the same palaces where the Bourbons have spent the summer since Isabel II. This would serve both as a tribute to History and the dynasty , and to promote beautiful corners of Spain so in need today of the publicity that would ensure a stay of Don Felipe and his family.

The Palace of La Granja, and occasionally that of Riofrío, was the preferred place for the Kings of Spain to spend the summer for centuries. Isabel II, in the photo, combined it with the North. ALFREDO MERINO

It was, in fact, the aforementioned Elizabeth II, great-great- grandmother of the current Monarch, the forerunner in this of the summer . The Royal Palace of the Granja de San Ildefonso , in Segovia, was from the time of Carlos III the main summer residence of the Bourbons. Elizabeth II, queen almost newborn since 1833, spent long summers in this magnificent place so linked to our dynasty. But, in 1845, at the age of 14, the Monarch gave up on traveling to the North. The graceful place was San Sebastián , already then a spa town favored by its proximity to Biarritz and other small towns on the French coast where members of all European royalty had set their eyes. That election of Isabel II unleashed the jealousy of the also next Santander, which began to promote those that would become its famous wave baths in the Sardinero . Until she was forced into exile in 1868, after the La Gloriosa revolution triumphed, the Queen alternated summers between the two Cantabrian cities , which were hardly unfaithful with any stay in Lequeitio (Vizcaya).

San Sebastián and Santander continued to be the two favorite cities of the Bourbons -and with them of the great Spanish aristocrats- with Alfonso XII and Alfonso XIII: The second wife of the first, Queen Regent María Cristina of Austria, acquired with funds from her fortune the old grounds of the Monastery of San Sebastián el Antiguo, where he built the Miramar Palace.

Queen Victoria Eugenia de Battenberg convinced her husband Alfonso XIII to put a little distance in August with her mother-in-law, the aforementioned María Cristina, not to mention that Miramar did not bring very good memories for the horrifying baptism ceremony to religion Catholic that he had to undergo there before marrying. The case is that Alfonso XIII and Ena used to spend the summer in Santander, while the Habsburg rested in San Sebastián. In appreciation for the election, the Cantabrian capital gave the King a magnificent villa, the Palacio de la Magdalena . Both this imposing building and Miramar were sold to local corporations in their day by Don Juan, Count of Barcelona, ​​father of Juan Carlos I.

Marivent's palace in Palma de Mallorca.GTRES

Today Emeritus and Doña Sofía began to spend the summer in Palma in 1973, still as Princes of Spain. The Provincial Delegation of the Balearic Islands at that time made the Marivent Palace available to it to become an official summer residence. Cities like San Sebastián tried unsuccessfully in 1976 to achieve that privilege, aware of the tourist repercussion and the enormous economic benefit that being the official seat of the Royal Family represents for any place.

Only the fact that the King's Cup sailing is held every year in Palma has an economic impact for the island of almost 18 million euros , according to a study by two professors of Business Economics from the Universitat de les Illes Balears published last year. Balearic businessmen boast of working in one of the best-valued tourist destinations in the Mediterranean, to which the presence of the Head of State is no stranger. Nothing is going to be easy this summer. Greater reason for Don Felipe and Doña Letizia to turn to the work of promoting tourism in the wake of their ancestors.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

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