
On Thursday, King Felipe of Spain took part in the opening of the first global conference of the Xacobean Academy in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia.
The conference will span over the course of three days, in which state, regional and local experts will debate pilgrimage routes, the jacobean phenomenon and the impact of pilgrimage on community sense for citizens and on the possibilities it creates to generate unity and connection between tradition and innovation.
His Majesty arrived in Obradoiro Square, from where he walked to the Santiago de Compostela University main building, the Fonseca College. In the main hall of the building, the Dean of the University and the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism gave a speech before King Felipe gave his remarks. He then toured the library of the structure, in which he was shown a Visigoth manuscript from 1055. Finally, he signed the visitor’s book.
Accompanying the King was the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism, the President of the Galician Parliament, the Government representative in Galicia, the Mayor of Santiago de Compostela, the Dean of the Santiago de Compostela University and the President and the entire board of the Xacobean Academy.
King Felipe is Honorary President of the Xacobean Academy, and it is an appointment that closely reflects His Majesty’s keen interest in literature and culture. In fact, during the press conference in which they announced their engagement, Queen Letizia revealed that her engagement present for her then-fiancé was cufflinks and an 1850 edition of “El Doncel de Don Enrique el Doliente” [“The page boy for Henry the Sickly”], showing that his love for literature and ancient books has been ever-present.*
Santiago de Compostela is famous for being the arrival point of many routes coming from all around Europe. It is still today a site for pilgrimage, especially for members of the Roman Catholic Church, who undertake the walk in groups or alone, coming from all corners of the globe.
*In fact, the book is so rare outside of Spain that it hasn’t even been translated in other languages; the English version of the title is of my own making.