• The King and Queen will sponsor the Granada particle accelerator in Croatia

The Kings Don Felipe and Doña Letizia continue with an intense agenda of international representation.

This Wednesday, the Monarch and his wife have landed in

Croatia

on the first official visit by a head of state to the Balkan country when the 30th anniversary of the

beginning of diplomatic relations with Spain is celebrated.

Don Felipe and Doña Letizia arrived in

Zagreb

on a rainy and foggy day at two in the afternoon, accompanied by the Minister for Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, and on board a Spanish Air Force plane.

At the airport they have been received by a cordon of honor that included the Spanish ambassador,

Juan González-Barba;

the ambassador of Croatia,

Nieves Malenica

;

the diplomatic adviser to the president for Foreign Policy and Europe,

Neven Pelicaric

;

Zrinka Ujevika

, general director for Europe and

Mikel Iriso

, second head of the Spanish Embassy.

Doña Letizia chose

a green coat dress

that she premiered at the thanksgiving ceremony that was held in London on the first anniversary of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.

She accessorized with a cape and black shoes whose stiletto heels sank into the puddled red carpet that she walked along with the King to greet some twenty people who formed the line of authorities.

The Queen sheltered herself against the cold with stockings, a complement that she is not used to using.

To know more

Science.

The King and Queen will sponsor the Granada particle accelerator in Croatia

  • Drafting: MARINA PINA

The King and Queen will sponsor the Granada particle accelerator in Croatia

2016.

This was the controversial first time of the Royal Family in Croatia

  • Drafting: CONSUELO FONT

This was the controversial first time of the Royal Family in Croatia

From the airport, the King and Queen went to the

presidential palace,

a 3,500-square-meter residence built in 1964 on a ten-hectare estate by two of the best Croatian architects of the moment -

Vjenceslav Richter and Kazimir Ostrogovi

- as a residence in Zagreb for the Mariscal Tito, and known during that period as "Villa Tito".

Having an air-raid shelter, it became the official residence at the beginning of 1992, after the previous residence, Banski Dvori (which today houses the offices of the Prime Minister) was the object of an air attack by Yugoslav fighters in October 1991, at the beginning of the Croatian War of Independence.

There, the Kings have been received by the president and his wife,

Zoran and

Sanja

Milanovic

with an official welcome that has included the interpretation of the anthem of both countries and the review of the troops.

Don Felipe winked at Croatia and during the parade he stopped to greet the troops with the military formula:

"'Pozdrav Vojnici!"

.

Next, the King met with the president to talk about the diplomatic relations of both countries and their entry into the Schengen area and the euro next January.

For her part, Doña Letizia has held a meeting with the president's wife focused on the search for

innovative approaches in the prevention of childhood obesity.

Sanja Milanovic is a doctor and university professor

specialized in this epidemic

that affects minors around the world.

Milanovic is part of the WHO Advisory Council for non-communicable diseases and is a member of the Initiative against Childhood Obesity, developed within said Advisory Council.

She shares with Doña Letizia the concern for this problem that the wife of Felipe VI, as

ambassador of the FAO,

tries to make visible and support.

After the bilateral meetings, the Kings have moved to the Monument to the homeland, a building inaugurated at the end of 2020 in which they have placed

a floral offering in front of the eternal flame

that emerges from a bronze and rock structure.

Don Felipe and Doña Letizia have paid tribute to the fallen in the War of Independence to the touch of silence that a Ukrainian Army officer has interpreted with a trumpet.

Chema MoyaEFE

Don Felipe and Doña Letizia make this official visit in response to the invitation that Croatia made years ago and coinciding with the

strengthening of bilateral relations

since President Sánchez visited Croatia in October 2021. The Croatian prime minister responded with an official trip to Spain and last spring José Manuel Albares, Foreign Minister, was also in Croatia.

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