The Kings preside over the parade for October 12, Hispanic Day, which runs through the center of Madrid for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began. A total of 2,656 soldiers, 68 aircraft and 115 vehicles will participate in the military parade that will begin at 10:30 a.m. and will run along Paseo de la Castellana between Plaza de Lima and Nuevos Ministerios.
The improvement in the health situation has made it possible to recover the traditional parade for October 12 , which last year had to be replaced by a reduced military act in the courtyard of the Royal Palace.
less participation
However, the number of participants in the military parade will be somewhat lower than in previous editions. There will also be restrictions on the subsequent reception offered by the King and Queen at the Royal Palace to avoid the concentration of people in interior spaces, according to sources from the Royal House.
The powers of the State, the members of the Government, the Table and spokespersons of Congress and Senate, the president of the PP, Pablo Casado, the regional presidents, former presidents of the Government and presidents of other institutions such as the Council of State, the Court of Auditors, the Ombudsman and the State Attorney General.
Economic and social agents, the Economic and Social Council and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, top representatives of organizations, agencies and social assistance entities, members of the Spanish Olympic Committee and Tokyo 2020 flag bearers and representatives of the educational and cultural field will also attend.
Guide to the events scheduled for October 12
The events for this National Holiday will begin with the arrival of the King and Queen and the Infanta Sofia in the Plaza de Lima at 10:30. Princess Leonor will not travel to Madrid due to the health regulations of the Welsh school where she is studying this year, since she would be forced to quarantine upon her return.
Along with the King and Queen, members of the Government will be in the parade, including the ministers of United We Can, and the regional presidents. The only absences will be the usual ones from Catalonia and the Basque Country and, in this edition, that of the Galician president, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, who has the debate on the state of the Region the next day.
There, the Kings will receive military honors and Felipe VI will review the troops, after which he will greet the authorities. Afterwards, the traditional paratrooper jump with the Spanish flag will take place, the most tense moment in the last parade after the jumper was hooked on a lamppost on the Paseo de la Castellana. After that, the raising of the flag and an act of homage to those who fell in Spain will take place.
Military parade in Madrid
Then the air parade will begin, in which a large representation of the aircraft of the Armed Forces will participate and also of other public organizations such as Maritime Rescue or the Civil Guard, in addition to the traditional Eagle Patrol painting in the sky the colors of the flag.
That will be when the land parade begins, first with the motorized echelon of the Armed Forces, the Civil Guard, the National Police Corps, Customs Surveillance and Civil Protection.
On foot, a group of the Royal Guard and different groups of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Military Emergency Unit (UME) and the Civil Guard will parade.
The parade will be closed by the Tercio Gran Capitan and the ‘Rey Alfonso XIII brigade of the Legion and the group of Regulares de Ceuta, with their characteristic steps.
