At the beginning of August, during the royal family's stay in Mallorca, Infanta Sofia caused some surprise among the media for an apparently unusual gesture in the protocol of royal houses. The reason? She was wearing a Desigual dress that Queen Letizia had already worn in 2023 and that Princess Leonor had reused in 2025, during the respective Marivent receptions. In fact, Queen Letizia has repeated dresses on more than one occasion, and each time the fact has become news. But what does it say about us, as a society, that it seems so exceptional to us for a queen to repeat a dress?The reuse of clothing has been an inherent practice in fashion throughout pre-industrial history, when clothes were scarce, expensive, and often had to be passed down from parents to children. It was a practice that affected all social strata, including European courts. Royal families had record-keeping systems to document existing garments, specifying their characteristics, measurements, and decorative elements, as well as the repairs and modifications they had undergone, with the aim of facilitating their reuse within the same family. Everything indicates that clothing was conceived less as strictly individual property than as dynastic heritage capable of circulating among different members of the lineage. And when clothes ceased to be used, they could become diplomatic gifts or be passed on to members of the service to ensure alliances and loyalties. Likewise, fabrics were dismantled and reused in new garments, ornaments, furniture, or liturgical objects, and only when they had exhausted any possibility of use were they destined for paper manufacturing. The wardrobe was thus understood as a true reserve of material resources and political strategies. Therefore, what has changed between the old European courts and the current royal family for something that was completely normalized in the past to have become an exception today?

Nine years ago, a group of Moroccan citizens was demonstrating in Casablanca. They waved Moroccan flags and held up banners that read down with colonialism. Others were written in Arabic. The scene was captured by Efe photojournalist Karim Selmaoui. And the reason they were protesting was none other than the visit of the Spanish royal family to Ceuta. It was the first time Juan Carlos and Sofia had set foot on the African continent to visit this autonomous city – it took them 32 years from the start of their reign. It was also the last. In fact, since then, there has been no visit from the Spanish monarchy to Ceuta, nor to Melilla. It is Felipe VI's pending trip as king, although as prince he never went either.

I really liked seeing the four members of the royal family on a sofa, dressed in the new Spanish national football team kit, watching the semi-final match and hugging each other from time to time. Do I understand that it must have been their living room? It wasn't a bar. They didn't invite friends, which is something you do when you're the one with the big TV and you pay for a subscription. I understand that the friends (of the two daughters or of the couple) must have preferred to go down to the bar. That's perfectly understandable. At the bar, there's something to eat and drink, and, if all goes well, they have air conditioning. On the other hand, at the Bourbons' there wasn't even a sad little plate of roasted potatoes or peanuts and not a can of hops, just some cheeses with a dramatic strawberry on top. There was no sign of a fan anywhere. Perhaps it was a ceiling fan.

King Felipe VI's gesture toward Mexico—in which he acknowledged the "abuses" committed during the conquest of the Americas—has had an initial, palpable effect on thawing relations. According to the Royal Household, the monarch has received an invitation from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to attend the World Cup, which her country will host from July 11 to 19. In a letter, Sheinbaum expresses that this sporting event "provides the perfect opportunity to highlight the depth and unique character of the ties between Mexico and Spain, forged by a historical brotherhood." The invitation was welcomed at the Zarzuela Palace "within the framework of the fraternal relationship of friendship between the two countries." At a press conference this Tuesday, Sheinbaum indicated her willingness to accept the monarch's invitation and welcomed his remarks earlier in the week during a conversation with the Mexican ambassador to Spain while visiting the exhibition.Half the world. Women in indigenous Mexico. The Mexican government had been demanding for years an apology to Spainbecause of its colonial past. Although Felipe VI did not apologize, the Mexican president interpreted his words—in which he admitted that there are behaviors that, viewed through the lens of current values, are not something to be "proud of"—as "a gesture of rapprochement" within the framework of a process that "must continue to be worked on."

If we were to adapt Tolstoy's idea to monarchy, we could formulate it thus: all stable monarchies are similar; each monarchy in crisis is so in its own way.

The king's former brother-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarin, who went to prison in June 2018 and was released in January 2021, spoke for the first time about his experience behind bars on the program Sequence plan On La 2 Cat. In a conversation with journalist Jordi Basté, Urdangarin explained that he was devastated. "Materially, I lost almost everything I had. And then there's a very big loss, which is one of the loves of my life, Cristina. It was a very hard time and we had a very difficult time. It had consequences and it's painful; she's a woman I love very much," he said. The former brother-in-law of the king was convicted of embezzlement, abuse of power, fraud, two tax offenses, and influence peddling. He was incarcerated in the Brieva prison in Ávila, in a women's prison.

Every Saturday at noon, La 1 de TVE broadcasts Open hearing, a news program focusing on current affairs within the royal family. They report on the agendas of the main members of the monarchy so that citizens can see how the Crown earns its keep by attending all kinds of institutional, charitable, and business events.

Infanta Sofía completed her exclusive training at UWC Atlantic College in Wales this year and has already decided where she will spend her university years. Her first stop will be Lisbon, as a student at Forward College, an institution that offers international studies at 18,500 euros per year, which are offered at various locations across Europe. The Portuguese capital will host her starting in September, but she will then move to Paris and complete her degree in Berlin.

The Royal Household has audited its accounts since 2015, and for the first time since then, it has ended a year in the red. The institution closed 2024 with a deficit of €99,591.80, according to the Court of Auditors' annual report released this Monday. In the previous year, on the contrary, the result was positive, with a balance of €379,996. In 2022, the Royal Household also closed the year with a surplus of €407,402.

King Felipe VI's upcoming visit to Montserrat on the eve of Saint John's Day has caused a stir among Catalan Catholic circles, suggesting that consultations within the Royal Household pointed in that direction. The Newspaper published that the monarch would attend on June 23, but at that time, despite the Head of State's intention to attend, no details had been agreed upon between the institutions nor had the king's attendance been formally communicated, according to sources familiar with the matter to this newspaper. The Montserrat Abbey, symbol of Catalanism, has he opened the doors to the head of state?

King Felipe VI has tested positive for covid-19 after presenting mild symptoms since Tuesday afternoon, according to a statement by Zarzuela palace. The monarch is in "good" health but has proceeded to suspend all official activities for the next seven days, during which he will remain in isolation. Nevertheless, the Royal Household has specified, he will maintain his institutional activity online. On the other hand, the statement specifies that both Queen Letizia and the Infanta Sofia have no symptoms for now and "may continue with their planned activities normally, according to the established protocols".