It was not a birthday typical of an 18-year-old girl, but Princess Leonor is not just any young woman. The swearing in of the Constitution upon reaching the age of majority of the heir to the Crown brought together, first in Congress and then in the Royal Palace, a good part of the protagonists of the history of Spain of the last 45 years, who tried to convey Congratulations and words of encouragement to the Princess, but also advice.
The last four former presidents of the government – Felipe González, José María Aznar, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Mariano Rajoy – took advantage of the occasion, since it is not so common for them to be together, to talk... and most likely the amnesty was one of the matters to be discussed. The former minister and former secretary general of NATO Javier Solana and the former minister and currently high representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, did the same from the guest gallery, who undoubtedly had in Gaza and Israel reasons for consultation.
Also the fathers of the Constitution who are alive, Miquel Roca and Miguel Herrero and Rodríguez de Miñón, occupied the wait with an animated conversation, possibly about the constitutionality or not of the issues that have been put on the table for Sánchez's investiture. .
All of them, with the whole story behind them, did not limit themselves to congratulating Princess Leonor when the Kings and their daughters greeted the guests. They stopped and exchanged words of encouragement and advice with her.
In Congress, everything went as planned, in an act modeled on the one the current King carried out 37 years ago, with some variations. So, the president of the Generalitat, Jordi Pujol, was in the oath; Yesterday, Pere Aragonès, no. Neither did the Lehendakari, who did attend in 1986.
At Princess Leonor's swearing-in there were more absences. Those of the parliamentarians from ERC, Junts, PNV, Bildu and BNG, in addition to those from Sumar, although some did go. The spokesperson, Marta Lois, and the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, as well as the minister Joan Subirats, did not miss the appointment. But it wasn't noticed much either – aside from the political significance – because deputies and senators from the rest of the parties packed the chamber. The same thing happened with the absence of Podemos ministers Ione Belarra and Irene Montero, and that of Alberto Garzón, of IU, because their chairs were removed and the gaps were not noticed.
Meanwhile, the King and Queen, aware of the prominence of the Princess of Asturias, were attentive to their daughter at all times; either putting the ponytail on him, when the president of the Senate, Pedro Rollán, awarded him the medal of the Upper House, or when the King, already in the Royal Palace, explained to his heir what they had to do when he made the toast; the first for the Princess.
The Kings also tried to tell their daughter, when the applause of the attendees was already more than prolonged in Congress, to make gestures for the authorities to sit down, but the Princess, shy, did it so delicately that the chamber He didn't understand it. Felipe VI had to end up being the one to cut off the ovation.
From Congress, the royal family gets that applause, and the deputies and acting ministers, in one of their last acts, the selfies that everyone took advantage of to get hold of the special tribune set up for the swearing-in in the background. The moment was historic. The social networks of the members of the Council of Ministers were filled with photographs of the event for history.
The official events ended with a lunch at the Royal Palace, where the Princess was flanked by the two fathers of the Constitution, who undoubtedly entertained her meal by telling her how they made the Constitution, and the anecdotes that were undoubtedly experienced. At the table, along with the Kings and their daughters, were also the acting president, Pedro Sánchez; that of the Constitutional Court, Cándido Conde-Pumpido; that of the General Council of the Judiciary, Vicente Guilarte, and the leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
The oath of the heir to the Crown was also immortalized in the Congress's book of honor by her father Felipe, who highlighted "the pride and honor" of having accompanied his first-born daughter.
