King Felipe of Spain travelled to La Rioja Autonomic Community to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the siege of its capital, Logroño.
His Majesty visited several exhibitions on September 25 that celebrate the history of the place and its most prominent characteristic: wine production.
Upon his arrival, King Felipe was welcomed by the President of La Rioja Autonomic Community Concepción Andreu, the President of La Rioja Parliament Jesús María García García, the Government Representative in La Rioja Autonomic Community María Marrodán Funes, and the Mayor of Logroño Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza.
The sovereign was then given a tour of the city, with a visit of Espacio Laganares. This archaeological site houses the permanent exhibition “El Camino del Vino” [The walk of wine”], which aims to unite the Way of St James, which also passes through Logroño, with the region’s wine production.
His Majesty and the rest of the authorities then held a photo op in front of a plaque commemorating the exhibition, before moving to Calado de San Gregorio, an exhibition space that was once a tunnel for wine production and that, together with Espacio Laganares and La Rioja Cultural Centre, constitutes the golden triangle of the city’s wine tourism.
The group then was welcomed into the mayoral building, where they visited the exhibition “Logroño, una ciudad cercada” before meeting with the entire city council and important personalities of all relevant topics for the town.
To conclude his visit, the monarch toured the Plenary Hall, the Portrait Hall and signed the visitor’s book of the Mayoral Office.
The town of Logroño celebrates in 2021 the 500th anniversary of its siege by the French and their survival thanks to the position the town is located in and the fertility of the land that allowed them to essentially never have to suffer hunger because of all the surplus of food they managed to harvest each year.
King Felipe is always very attentive to Spain’s history, and whenever possible, likes to be present for important historic anniversaries for big and small towns.
