Although the whistles and boos become the protagonists of the military parade on October 12 year after year, the one held this morning for Armed Forces Day in Grenada has been filled with cheers and applause. Without the President of the Government present, the Kings Felipe and Letizia have taken a mass bath in the Andalusian city through which more than 3,000 soldiers, 150 vehicles and 70 planes and helicopters have paraded.
The leader of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, does not usually attend the Armed Forces Day events. He has not done so either today, five days after announcing the electoral advance after the socialist crash at the polls on 28-M. Yes, the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, and the head of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, have attended. There has been no whistle for them. And if there has been any rude cry for the members of the government, the ovations that thousands of Granada have given to the Kings of Spain have eclipsed everything else.
The Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno, has also had his moment of glory, shouting “president, president”. He has been accompanied by the acting mayor of Granada, from the PSOE, who in the coming weeks will hand over the baton of command to the candidate of the Popular Party, who won the victory as happened in the rest of the Andalusian capitals, which were all dyed blue. The director of the National Intelligence Center, Paz Esteban, the director of the Civil Guard, Mercedes González, and the heads of the two Armies and the Navy also attended.
There have been no speeches, but there have been statements to the media. The next elections of 23-J impregnated everything. Minister Robles has seamlessly supported the policies of the Prime Minister, with whom she has "a personal commitment for a long time." Robles was one of that brief group of deputies who remained faithful to the end along with Sánchez when the socialist party split in two when it came to abstaining from the last investiture of Mariano Rajoy. "I believe in Pedro Sánchez and the policy that is being carried out is the best for Spain", she has assured without revealing if he will finally go on the socialist lists, still to be closed. “I will be committed as long as I serve.”
The minister took advantage of the occasion to reiterate the message that holding the elections early, which could lead to a change of government, does not under any circumstances break the commitment made by the Executive before NATO to reach 2% of GDP before the end of this decade. "The Armed Forces have never been used in a partisan key, since investing in them is investing in Spain's modernity, in values of peace, freedom and security," she said.
The parade, which has lasted more than two hours, has begun after the greeting of the kings to the authorities. On this occasion, the King, as the supreme command of the Armed Forces, was dressed as a general admiral of the Navy. After that, the traditional paratrooper jump took place carrying the Spanish flag which, for the first time in history, was done by a woman: Corporal Carmen Gómez of the Parachuting Acrobatic Patrol of the Air and Space Army. She has raised the flag, the fallen have been honored and the Eagle Patrol has passed dyeing the sky of Granada with the colors of the Spanish flag.
They have flown 70 aircraft, including F-18, Eurofighter, Harrier and Pilatus planes, as well as helicopters from the Army, Army, Navy and Civil Guard. Behind them, more than 150 vehicles, such as battle tanks and armored vehicles. The leading role of the parade on foot has been taken, once again, by the Legion and its mascot, which this time was a dwarf goat from North Africa, named Julio César.
