“There are the Kings, the most important people in Spain,” said the actor Miguel Rellán stage path. Rellán has arrived with Leire, “my granddaughter”. Both have presented the inauguration ceremony of the bicentenary of the Ateneo de Madrid. “Am athenian for many years (…) Ateneo is named after the goddess Athena, goddess of wisdom”, explained the veteran interpreter to Leire Marín. This is how the event began, which was presided over Philip VI y Joy this Tuesday April 11 in the morning. An event on the agenda, which comes in the middle of the debate on the imminent visit of Don Juan Carlos to Spain, since he wants to participate in the regattas on the 22nd and 23rd, which will be held in Sanxenxo, in the waters of the Ría from Pontevedra.
For two centuries, specifically since 1820, the Ateneo de Madrid has remained faithful to its goal of disseminating culture and science. After three years of pandemic, the institution celebrates its 200th anniversary. The event began with music by Joaquín Turina, by the Trío Arbós, with Ferdinando Trematore, on violin; José Miguel Gómez, on cello; and Juan Carlos Garvayo, at the piano.
In the hall of the historical institution, in Madrid’s Barrio de las Letras, the president of the center, Louis Arroyo, which has valued “this meeting space for debate”, inspired by “the promotion of equality, tolerance, diversity”; and “education and culture” as the basis “for progress.”
Among the cultural and intellectual center of Spain, it has maintained its “commitment to intellectual excellence and freedom of thought” for two centuries and is “a refuge of respect and tolerance,” Arroyo said.
This event was attended by Emilio Lledó, a 95-year-old philosopher and academic, Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and National Award for Spanish Letters. Lledó is the oldest partner: “Athenaist since 1949″.
Letizia, with 100% Spanish design
Passionate about culture, the Queen has reissued a knitted, ink-blue dress from Galcon Studio. Two large white flowers star in the design of the Spanish firm directed by Pilar González Alcón, founded in 2021. This midnight blue is a basic for Doña Letizia: it is the new black in her dressing room.
Don Felipe: “We are quota partners, important”
In order to spread the lights and educate the public, the Spanish Athenaeum was born 200 years ago. In 1835, and promoted by the queen governor María Cristina, the one in Madrid arose, with the same informative aspiration of its predecessor. With this historical reference, the King has taken the floor and has revealed: “We are quota partners, important”. The monarch has highlighted some values of this institution that are still valid, such as “living together in an open, tolerant, deeply supportive country” and in which “civic virtues” are “the essence of our democratic life.”