Letizia acts as a tour guide and English translator with her guest Rania

Madrid’s royal palace. We access the Plaza de Armas through the Puerta de Santiago. We go down some stairs that take us to the National Heritage Workshop School. It’s really hot. On a day like this June 19, nine years ago, Don Felipe was proclaimed King of Spain and his wife, Queen. This anniversary comes to the Kings with a non-stop agenda. Doña Letizia starts this week of work as the hostess of Rania from Jordan.

The wife of the head of state has arrived at the meeting point eight minutes before her guest. In that wait, she has peeked out of the school balcony to check when Rania appeared. Letizia has given us that valuable spontaneous photograph. There has been a rapid shower of flashes. The graphic media have once again photographed the ladies from behind, walking up the stairs in rhythm (as happened during the visit of the Hashemite in 2015).

The Hashemite Kings visit Spain for two days on a supersonic trip that also includes a stopover in Córdoba. This is the context of a lightning journey that has led to the reunion of the two queens this Monday the 19th.

Greetings with kisses, hugs, eye contact and words of affection. They have posed holding on to the waist. Doña Letizia is an expert hostess. She always has on hand the words that fit perfectly at the right time. She knows how to start a conversation, however brief, and she finds a common space to talk about. She is a very fast and skillful conversationalist with a great sense of humor. With Rania, in addition, she gets along very well. As soon as they have seen each other, they have not stopped talking. Both have starred in a duel of style.

The visit to the National Heritage workshop school has begun, where they have seen the work of restoring furniture, joinery, reproductions and gilding. They have also toured the employment workshop, of the State Public Employment Service, where wallpapers and screen printing are worked on; in addition to the carriage saddlery, which houses a gardening workshop. During the visit, Letizia has acted as a tour guide and English translator, showing her guest details of her tour. As the director of these workshops, José María García Pacheco, explained to us, since 1986 they have carried out “200 programs and some 2,000 students have been trained”.

Felipe VI and Abdalá II, trip to Córdoba

Don Felipe’s parallel agenda on this day of his ninth anniversary on the Throne is marked by the visit of the Hashemite monarchs to Spain. The roadmap for this meeting between Felipe VI and Abdalá II is the Aqaba Process on international security. This is an initiative that focuses on military cooperation and security against terrorism. The Kings of Spain have offered the Hashemites a meal this Monday the 19th at the Royal Palace itself.

At night, Felipe and Abdalá II are scheduled to travel to Córdoba where they will preside over the welcome dinner prior to the meeting of the Aqaba Process. The event will take place in the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos at 7:30 p.m. The last time the Jordanian kings visited Spain was eight years ago