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Summary and translation: Netflix has announced that this audiovisual project will premiere next July and will feature the King's participation. «When I think back to that time, I feel the same sadness and the same outrage», the King states in the documentary. His participation highlights the close bond he maintains with one of the most traumatic episodes in Spain's recent history.
Don Felipe was one of the institutional figures most deeply involved during those days in July 1997, when the kidnapping and subsequent murder of the young councilor from Ermua (Biscay) sparked an unprecedented mobilization against the terrorist group. The then-Prince of Asturias was 29 years old—exactly the same age as Miguel Ángel Blanco when ETA murdered him after holding him captive for 48 hours.
That event deeply affected Don Felipe, who, on July 14, 1997, presided over the funeral for the councilor (a member of the Popular Party) in Ermua, representing the Royal Family. Lucía Cabanelas Tens of thousands of people gathered in the town in Biscay that day to bid farewell to Miguel Ángel Blanco. The coffin was carried from the Santiago Apóstol parish church to the Ermua cemetery, accompanied by a crowd chanting slogans such as «Freedom, freedom!» and «Murderers, murderers!» The image of the then-heir to the throne walking alongside the Blanco family became etched in the collective memory as a symbol of the civic response to terrorism.
After the burial, Don Felipe spoke words that have since become part of the history of those days. «The pain and anguish experienced by the Blanco Garrido family over these past few days is our family's pain, and it is the pain felt unanimously by all Spaniards who love and respect life and freedom», he stated. He also conveyed the Royal Family's support «to Basque society and the Basque people in this civic, calm, and peaceful struggle against the terrorism of ETA and its accomplices».
Evening Dress Uniforms - U.S. Marine Corps Uniforms (1983) by Donna J. Neary.
Mess Dress and White Dress Uniforms - U.S. Marine Corps Uniforms by Donna J. Neary.
For roll calls, pledges and funerals, military personnel wear semi-dress uniforms. This means that they also wear a leather belt and combat boots in addition to their service dress consisting of a beret, service jacket and trousers.
Bundeswehr/Sebastian Wilke
A man has been arrested after vandalising a number of monuments, including the statue of the Infanta Isabel de Borbón (daughter of Queen Isabel II). The suspect smashed the statue and wrote ‘Fake Queen’ and ‘Sixto rey’, apparently believing it to be a statue of Isabel II.
A man aged between 21 and 22 has been arrested by the police after reports that he committed acts of vandalism against a number of sculptures located on the *Paseo del Pintor Rosales*.
His motives, although not yet clear, appear to stem from his opposition to Queen Elizabeth II (although the statue is not dedicated to her but to her eldest daughter), whose monument was the main—though not the only—target of his vandalism.
The suspect painted ‘Fake Queen’ and ‘Sixto rey’ on the base of the statue and caused serious damage to the structure of the sculpture of the Infanta Isabel (it lost its arms and nose), fracturing one of the arms of the main figure.
However, the damage extends to other areas of the promenade. On one of the pedestrian crossings (the one closest to where the bust used to stand and opposite the children’s playground), the same slogan as on the statue of Infanta Isabel has been painted. The only difference is that this ‘Viva Sixto’ was in a bright pink colour, just like the markings on the advertising hoarding next to the same crossing and other parts of the street furniture.
Two days before the 12th anniversary of King Felipe VI’s accession to the throne, the PSOE’s Madrid headquarters published images of a conference in which the republican flag can be seen displayed alongside a large portrait of Pedro Sánchez (Secretary-General of the PSOE and Prime Minister of Spain).
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Translation and summary of the article: The PSOE in Madrid held an event this week entitled ‘Hate Crime and Remembrance’, chaired by former minister Reyes Maroto and focusing on hate crimes suffered by members of the LGBTI community. What has emerged from the event, however, is not its content: the Spanish flag has been replaced at the party’s headquarters by a republican flag, placed alongside a large portrait of Pedro Sánchez.
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The combination of these two elements has sparked numerous reactions on social media, where several users have compared the décor to the aesthetics of one-party regimes, alluding to the cult of personality surrounding the leader. Various accounts have described the atmosphere at the headquarters as excessively ‘North Korean’.
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The PSOE in Madrid has not, as yet, offered any further explanation regarding the decoration of its headquarters beyond the message posted on its X profile announcing the event.
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🙄🙄 I hope this post isn’t deleted by the moderators without any explanation.
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The last time I posted in the *AntiMonarchistsSay* section (screenshots of comments by a Sánchez supporter denying that the King of Spain is Head of State), my post was deleted without any explanation. Although I complained, no moderator replied, so I can only assume that I hurt the fragile feelings of some pro-Sánchez moderator.
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If the moderators are so easily offended by my showing an example of the sort of anti-monarchist and fanatical thinking held by the supporters and voters of a socialist politician (who, moreover, forms a government with openly anti-monarchist parties), then why do they have a ‘flair’ called *AntiMonarchistsSay* available?
* Primera Dama ❌️❌️
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* Madame (madama) primerísima del ProstiSOE ✅️✅️
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