It has been kept secret, until this very Monday, that King Felipe VI was going to pose with his daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía, on their traditional annual visit to Palma de Mallorca. Finally, Queen Letizia has also participated in the photo. The Spanish Royal Family has avoided for the fourth consecutive year the classic perched in the gardens of the Marivent palace, their summer residence in Mallorca. On this occasion, they have chosen the Jardines de la Alfabia, in the Sierra de Tramuntana and which have been part of Unesco’s intangible heritage since 2011.
Alfabia’s house, garden and orchard complex, chosen for the first time for the royal perching, is located in an idyllic landscape. Its history dates back to the time of Arab rule on the island, when the Gothic-style house was structured around a closed courtyard, to which a tower was added in the 16th century. In the 17th century, it was also endowed with its baroque elements, the ones that most define the space today.
Last year, the Royal Family chose the Valldemossa Charterhouse, whose history dates back to the 14th century and which has become one of the most visited places by tourists who come to the Balearic island. On these days of rest, the Kings have already taken the habit of visiting a town or place of cultural importance. In 2021, the space chosen was the Interpretation Center of the Natural Area of the Sierra de Tramuntana; In 2020, the four of them toured the streets of the Majorcan town of Petra and visited the birthplace of Friar Junípero Serra, founder of missions in California in the 18th century.
The Royal Family will be in Marivent for at least a week, so it is expected that this will not be their only public appearance. However, the Royal House, for the moment, has explained little about the activities of the Kings and their daughters during their stay in the Mallorcan palace. What is known is that this year the holidays will be shorter, since in mid-August the Princess of Asturias will begin her military training at the General Academy of Zaragoza and the Infanta Sofía will travel to Wales to enter the UWC Atlantic College, where He will attend high school for the next two years.
The first to arrive in Mallorca was Felipe VI, who went to the island on Wednesday to receive, as usual, the main regional and local authorities at the Almudaina Palace. Doña Letizia and her daughters arrived on Saturday, when the queen presided over the closing gala of the 12th edition of the Atlàntida Mallorca Film Fest. The arrival of Letizia has also coincided with the departure of Doña Sofía, who has come to Granada this Monday to preside over the commemorative act of the 30th anniversary of the death of King Baudouin of Belgium, who enjoyed many summers in the coastal city of Motril. Even so, it is expected that she will return to the island at the end of this brief stay in Granada to continue with her summer family plan.
As is already a tradition, the monarch has become, for another year, the great protagonist of the Copa del Rey de Mapfre sailing, which started its 41st edition this Monday. Felipe VI is a great fan of sailing and he has been participating in this event since 1984, when he was only 16 years old. He has never managed to win the cup, while his father, Juan Carlos I, has done so in up to five editions. For the occasion, Felipe VI has boarded the boat with which he has historically participated in the regatta, the Aifos of the Spanish Armada.
This 2023 was presented as the year of reunions. Queen Sofía had set herself a difficult task: to reunite her three children and her eight grandchildren in the Mallorcan palace. She hasn’t made it. The Infanta Elena is in Sanxenxo (Pontevedra) with her father, King Juan Carlos I, during his visit to Spain to participate in the Galician regattas. For her part, the Infanta Cristina has also changed her plans at the last minute and has traveled to Greece with two of her children, Miguel and Irene Urdangarin, to reunite with her maternal family.
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