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Spain

King Felipe of Spain officially opens the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

Between the evening of Sunday June 27 and the morning of Monday June 28, King Felipe carried out two engagements in connection with the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

On Sunday evening, His Majesty took part in the inaugural dinner of the congress, during which he was reunited with the Prime Minister, the Mayor of Barcelona and representatives of the associations connected to the event. 

During the dinner, he offered a speech in Spanish, Catalan and English, saying that Spain is showing to be a country that can attract investments and tourism, and that its citizens have shown resilience during the health crisis.

The next morning, His Majesty officially opened the event, again joined by several authorities, including the Prime Minister, the Minister for Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism, the President of the Catalonian Generality and the Mayor of Barcelona, among many others. 

His Majesty toured several firms’ stands, including Caixabank and Telefonica, and in each of them he learned about the new technology they were presenting. 

After the tour, the King offered a luncheon in Albeniz Palace, the Monarch’s official residence when in the city, to which many authorities and high-ranking members of businesses in the Forum were present. 

Before going back to Madrid, His Majesty went back to the Forum to take part in a roundtable titled ‘The human evolution and the future of a connected world’, during which the relationship between technology and the human experience were discussed. 

The event has been an annual occurrence since 2006, and His Majesty has been involved in the event in the measure that it makes Barcelona the global capital of Mobile connections. 

This isn’t the only time King Felipe will be in Barcelona this week; he is back in Madrid for an event on the 29th of June, but he and his family will travel again to Barcelona on the 1st of July for the Princess of Girona awards. 

King Felipe seems to be visiting Barcelona, and Catalonia in general, more compared to other communities. This could be a way to honour his promise, made during his inauguration speech, to keep Spain united, even when it faces hard times. And the Catalonian independence movement has certainly been a hard time for Spain and for the King in particular.