Madrid celebrates October 12: a military parade marked by November 29, shouts against Sánchez and the trip of the kings to Ceuta

MadridOn bus 14 in Madrid, which was traveling along the Paseo del Prado and the Recoletos neighborhood this Sunday evening, a boy was insistently asking his mother if they could get up early today to go see the military parade. He asked her after seeing that all the chairs, barriers, and platforms were already in place. "We are not going, I don't like military parades," the mother said, and the boy tactically turned to his father to see if he could reverse the decision. It is not known if he succeeded, but this Monday, October 12th, Hispanic Day, there were indeed many families in the center of Madrid as spectators of the Spanish national holiday, presided over by the monarchs. The ritual was as follows, the same as every year: arrival of the members of the monarchy, military honors, and a performance by the Air Force. Then, the turn of the Army, with the legion's goat. In total, about 4,400 members of the armed forces, security forces, and other civil institutions participated.

However, beyond the protocol, this Monday all media eyes were pointed at the authorities' grandstand, with King Felipe VI; the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the leader of the opposition and leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. When Sánchez arrived, there was no shortage of shouts from the right-wing demonstrations: "Pedro Sánchez, son of a bitch".

The moment is one of high political tension: the pre-election period for November 29th has already begun, and this October 12th was the day before the monarchs' visit to Ceuta – in democracy, the Spanish monarchy has only stepped foot in the autonomous cities once, and that was twenty years ago –. A trip that King Felipe VI awaits with "excitement," he confessed in an informal conversation. For this reason, beyond the body language of the attendees, and who spoke with whom, the most relevant things were the informal conversations at the Royal Palace, where after the parade all the powers of the State gathered for the hand-kissing ceremony for the monarchy.

As is now customary, neither the pro-independence and nationalist forces nor the more left-wing parties were there, nor was the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, who is against attending institutional acts with Sánchez and decided to go to Ceuta with the leader of the French extreme right, Jordan Bardella. The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and the President of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, were present, while the crisis following the massive entry of migrants on July 30th is still not resolved.

Clash at Puerta del Sol

After shaking hands with more than a thousand guests, the King and Queen moved on to the cocktail party at the Royal Palace. There, in addition to the monarchy, Sánchez, Feijóo, and also magistrates of the Supreme Court were present. Beyond the high court's decision regarding the vote of those naturalized by the democratic memory law,which ended up being the protagonist of the day, the November 29th elections were on everyone's lips. Including the leaders of the two main parties. In an informal conversation with journalists, Sánchez assured that he is optimistic about the elections and that he believes he can win again and govern, despite all the adverse polls, which favor a majority for the PP and Vox. In fact, in his view, the left is more mobilized than in 2023, when everyone assumed the right would govern and the progressive and plurinational forces managed to re-elect the executive.

However, this optimism was also conveyed by the PP. Feijóo also assured the journalists in the room that his party is mobilized and that they will be the ones to capitalize on the "change" vote. In this way, he also downplayed the fact that Vox is soaring in the polls: "We are a party of state. No sanitary cordon with Vox, but no umbilical cord either." The two Spains, then, inside the Royal Palace, and also outside: just a few meters away, at the Puerta del Sol, various protesters from the Hispanic Day celebrations clashed with those camped out for the right to housing. The National Police had to intervene to restore peace. The day has been the most tense experienced so far since the encampment began and has ended with two arrests and one injured police officer.