King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Spanish newspaper “El Mundo” last night at the Westin Palace Hotel in Madrid.
Upon Their Majesties arrival, they were greeted by the President of the Congress of Deputies, Meritxell Batet; President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso; Vice President of the Government, Carmen Calvo; Minister of Education and Vocational Training, Maria Isabel Celáa; and the Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles, among others.
The commemorative event took place in the “La Rotonda” room where Felipe and his former CNN journalist wife sat at the head table and watched a film called “El Mundo 30 años” or “El Mundo 30 Years.”
Journalist Arturo Pérez Reverte next read “The World is our language” before His Majesty spoke to the assembled guests.
“30 years have passed; three decisive decades of the history of our country. And tonight we commemorate or celebrate what in them has been the extraordinary contribution to this newspaper of so many professionals, to portray them, describe them, even contribute to shaping them and leaving the testimonies of their protagonists for history. Congratulations to all of them,” King Felipe said.
His Majesty added, “El Mundo, at this time, has become one of the most influential newspapers in our country, defender of the freedoms and rights of all citizens, especially the right to information and freedom of expression, as essential grounds of any rule of law.”
El Mundo (or The World in English) was founded by Pedro J. Ramírez, Alfonso de Salas, Balbino Fraga and Juan González in 1999, and it is the second most read newspaper in Spain.
