The King returns to Barcelona this Monday for the third time in just over a month since he released his 2024 Catalan agenda on February 14 at the ceremony to hand over the offices to the new judges, which continued a week later with his presence in the opening of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) on February 25 and 26. Today, Felipe VI will spend the morning at the Gran Vía venue of Fira de Barcelona, in L'Hospitalet, where the Alimentaria and Hostelco exhibitions open and, in the afternoon, at the IESE headquarters in Barcelona, he will attend the delivery of the Kingdom of Spain award for Business Career to Isak Andic.
On this occasion, the presence of the head of state coincides with the beginning of the pre-campaign after the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, announced last Wednesday to call early elections on May 12, as well as after the approval of the endorsement of the Congressional Justice Commission on the amnesty law for those prosecuted for the process, which is now being processed in the Senate.
The president of the Generalitat will not be present at the King's inaugural visit to Alimentaria since it coincides with the event scheduled at the Government headquarters, in which Aragonès will sign the decree calling for the next regional elections. There will also be no possibility of a meeting between the head of State and President Aragonés at the ceremony to present the Kingdom of Spain award for Business Career awarded by the Cercle d'Economía, the Círculo de Empresarios and the Círculo de Empresarios Vascos, to the founder. and president of the Mango textile company, Isak Andic, at the IESE headquarters, since at the same time the President plans to attend the Any Company Gala, also to present various awards to executives and companies in the House of Llotja de Mar.
The King begins his Catalan day with his tour of the International Food and Beverage Exhibition, “Alimentaria 2024”, and the International Exhibition of Equipment for Hotel Catering and Communities, “Hostelco 2024”, in which Spain, Europe and America Latin America, the most important markets in the sector, come together to strengthen ties and build bridges of direct connection. The presence of Felipe VI in Alimentaria has been constant in recent editions. In the previous one, which was held between April 4 and 7, 2022, neither the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonés, nor the then mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, participated in the reception of the monarch, where he was at that time. deputy mayor and now first mayor, Jaume Collboni.
At the recent opening of the MWC, also at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Vía venue, Aragonés avoided publicly greeting the King both at the opening dinner prior to his arrival at the fairgrounds.
In the afternoon, after receiving the Spanish medalists who participated in the aquatic championships in Eindhoven, Croatia and Doha at the Albéniz palace, he will preside over the presentation of the eighth edition of the Kingdom of Spain Lifetime Achievement Award at the IESE Business School headquarters. Business to Isak Andic, co-founder and president of Mango. The award is a joint initiative of the Cercle d'Economia, the Círculo de Empresarios and the Círculo de Empresarios Vascos, with the aim of distinguishing the career and example for future generations of a relevant business figure who has carried out an important work in Spain. in terms of job creation, investment and internationalization, and has contributed to the progress and well-being of Spanish society as a whole. Since its creation in 2014, it has been received, among others, by Mariano Puig Planas and Josep Ferrer Sala, as well as Gabriel Escarré, Francisco Martínez-Cosentino and Plácido Arango.
