Spanish King Spoke to UK Parliament

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Spanish King Spoke to UK Parliament  

The king and queen of Spain headed to the UK in July and spent three-days in the country on a Royal excursion. The royal couple visited Buckingham Palace, had dinner at Clarence House, enjoyed a business workshop in London, and took a trip to the House of Commons, where King Felipe addressed Parliament. 

The royal visit is the first one of its kind in around 30 years, and comes when the UK and Spain are managing to maintain their good relationship despite the issue of the Brexit. The royal visit has been rescheduled twice because of internal political reasons. 

King Felipe and Queen Letizia  arrived in the country on July 11^th where they will proceeded directly to 10 Downing Street and enjoyed dinner with British Prime Minister Theresa May. 

Everything will officially begin when the royal couple meet the British royal couple – Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh – at Horse Guards Parade. 

It’s expected that there will be a message to Spanish companies and nationals in the UK to reassure them over Brexit and let them know they are still welcome – an issue that King Felipe himself is expected to bring up when he addresses the House of Commons. 

The Spanish royals met much more than just the Queen and Prime Minister; as the entire royal family was present at a gala dinner held on July 12 at Buckingham Palace. 

It seems that the royal family gathering like this to welcome a visiting foreign dignitary is a rare occasion, and Spanish diplomats are said to be delighted at how warmly the British royals are welcoming their Spanish counterparts. 

Prince Charles accompanied King Felipe on a visit to the city, where they attended a meeting of Spanish and British business leaders, before heading to Westminster Abbey where they pay ed homage to recent terror attack victims. 

A visit to Oxford for some academic meetings and presentations will round off the trip. Reports suggest that people on both sides are responding positively to how much respect and warmth is being shown by the royal families of both countries.

Spanish King to Pay Visit to Queen Elizabeth II in June

Spanish King to Pay Visit to Queen Elizabeth II in June

The Spanish King Felipe the VI will visit the UK with his wife Letizia as part of an official state visit to meet with Queen Elizabeth II, the British head of state. The visit was due to happen last year, but was postponed due to the political deadlock of the country. Now King Felipe’s calendar for 2017 has been opened up for ceremonial matters following all the officiating he had to do with the political landscape of Spain last year.

As momentous as the visit from the Spanish king will be, it is likely to be overshadowed by a visit from controversial US president Donal Trump, who will be welcomed by the Queen later this year.

Even so, a meeting between the British and Spanish heads of state is always an occasion worth savouring, especially during the current climate of uncertainty caused by the Brexit and the future of the relationship between Spain and the UK. While it’s not very likely for the royals to discuss highly political matters, their meeting offers a chance to symbolically show both Brits and Spaniards that there is a lot of goodwill still between the countries, forged by their deeply connected ties.

A report was recently released by the Spanish government showing the damage that could be caused to both the Spanish and British economies by a “hard” Brexit, which could cost the economies of both countries by up to €4 billion. The good news is that Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is seemingly taking a sensible approach to the Brexit, telling reporters that they should avoid dramatizing everything. He said that they just need to have good negotiations, which is just what the UK, Spain, and Europe as a whole want, and he expressed his hope everything will turn out well for all involved.

It might not make the headlines, but Rajoy makes a great point; the day will be won by sensible debate. If the heads of state for both nations can have a meeting filled with smiles, handshakes, and great photo opportunities, then it gets proceedings off to the right start and ensures a harmonious future for all.

Spanish King Gives Deadline to Politicians to Form New Government

Spanish King Gives Deadline to Politicians to Form New Government

The Spanish King Felipe VI is stepping in to finally end the impasse that has crippled the Spanish government for around eight months now.

King Felipe VI insists that the politicians form a new government

Could this finally spell the end of the political impasse that has seen Spain without a government for eight months?

The signs are definitely there that Spain could have a new government as early as next week. King Felipe VI began the legal procedure that means the acting prime minister has just one week to form a new government.

Since the elections were held once again on June 26, following the failure of the last general election in December, Mariano Rajoy has stayed on as acting Prime Minister while the political parties attempt to come to a deal and form a majority coalition.

King Felipe VI is adamant that there will be no third election and held a meeting with the Speaker of Congress Ana Pastor to discuss the political deals, partnerships, and problems that the country could face. The main aim for King Felipe VI is to finally end the deadlock that Spanish politics has been in since December.

Interestingly enough the Spanish economy has managed to recover quite well during this time and the cost of living has been kept low. Both GDP and job numbers are on the rise. Some industries, such as the real estate industry, are doing very well right now.

There are still many issues that should be addressed at the highest level. One of the most urgent is that Spain may be fined by the EU for going past their deficit containment. As such King Felipe will speak with Rajoy, the head of the Popular Party (PP) to discuss what options he has. As Rajoy was the one who secured the most seats at both elections it is believed that he will be the one who needs to end the deadlock and come up with a solution that works for Spain.

The Socialists staked their own claim for leadership but they failed to get enough support from the other parties. This is one reason things have become so tricky. Many of the smaller parties don’t want to join up with the PP but the socialists, who came in second place, are also having trouble making deals with the other smaller and mid-size parties to create a coalition of their own.

Even though King Felipe is stepping in and issuing this deadline there could still be a third election in Spain, something that very few people at the top of Spanish society and government seem keen about.

Under Article 99 of the Spanish Constitution the monarch must meet with the leading candidates and decide if any of them is the best fit to form a government. Unfortunately the king doesn’t have the power to force them to make a deal.

Re-Election Set For June 26th, Spanish King Confirms

Re-Election Set For June 26th, Spanish King Confirms

Spain had been doing well in spite of having no Government

The Spanish king Felipe-Bella-Naija has confirmed that the next general election in Spain will take place on June 26^th. King Felipe VI confirmed that Spain will go back to the polls once more in a second general election as the first failed to secure a ruling party.

The last vote was held on December 20^th of last year and no party managed to reach a majority. Six months of negotiations between the parties has so far failed to bring together a coalition so a re-election must be held.

The Spanish King used his authority as the head of state to call another election. The date, 26^th of June, will be just a few short days after the British will vote on the EU Referendum and a few days before EU leaders will gather at Brussels for their June 28^th summit.

A recent opinion poll has suggested that former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, the head of the People’s Party (PP) has become slightly more popular since last December. He now has 29% support, slightly up from the 28% he was at last year.

The biggest rival of the People’s Party is the Socialist party. They have seen a small drop in popularity as they went from 22% to 20.3%. The anti-austerity left-wing wing party Podemos has also suffered from a dip in popularity. They went from 20.7% to 18.1%.

The only party to see a significant rise in popularity is the central party Ciudadanos. They have gone up from 13.9% to 17%.

These changes in telecommunications and popularity suggest that Spaniards agrowth of the economy and are less interest in the idea of the total change that is being promised by Podemos and the Socialist party.

The economic growth of Spain and the low cost of living has been one of the best in the Eurozone. This has given Rajoy the chance to brag about the hard work that his party did during their last term. The country suffered from a double-dip recession during the time.

Rajoy told La Razón newspaper that his party was the most useful for Spain. He also said that voting for him was voting for the lesser evil and would be preferable over choosing a government that would attempt to undo all the good the PP had done, such as hard labour reforms.