Friendship comes from afar. Juan Carlos I has been invited by Mario Vargas Llosa to the admission ceremony of the Peruvian Nobel Prize winner at the French Academy. The emeritus king will not be alone in Paris. He is accompanied by his daughter, Infanta Cristina, according to EFE. For the father of Felipe VI, this act represents his first major social event since he went into self-exile in Abu Dhabi in August 2020. Let us remember that throughout these years the only two occasions that we have seen the emeritus at official public events outside of Emirates have been at the funerals of Queen Elizabeth II, in London; and Constantine II, in Athens. Without forgetting his visit to Spain in May 2022. Sanxenxo was a lightning private trip. This time it’s a big party. Paris celebrates French letters. It is the great moment for Vargas Llosa, but it is also a great moment for Don Juan Carlos.
The most anticipated photo of the act will be that of the Peruvian Nobel Prize winner and Juan Carlos I. A circumstance that from the media side can steal focus from the ceremony, which comes with all the pageantry and solemnity. It will start at 3:00 p.m. this Thursday, February 9.
The author of The city and the Dogswith his academic sword (which was given to him on Wednesday the 8th in a previous act at the Gallimard publishing house), he enters the club of the chosen ones, the so-called immortals. With his appointment, the Peruvian author becomes the first writer to enter the institution without having published books in French (not translated). Founded in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the academy is located opposite the Louvre Museum, on the Left Bank of the Seine
Llosa celebrates this appointment with the launch of Un bárbaro en París (Editorial Alfaguara). The essay, which hits bookstores this February, is a journey through French literature. Its author pays homage to the letters of our neighboring country to celebrate that he will occupy the 18th seat.