The tension that permeates all of Spanish politics will be transferred this October 12 to the events for the National Day: the military parade and the subsequent reception at the Royal Palace. As is tradition – as long as the leader who lives in La Moncloa is a socialist – the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will be received at the military parade with whistles and boos. This time sponsored by the ranks of the Popular Party, from where they have claimed that citizens have the right to express themselves in the streets against Sánchez’s “plans”, in reference to the possibility of approving an amnesty as demanded by the independence movement. In the eyes of the acting Government, the popular people have turned October 12 into “the festival of insult.”
If last year the day was overshadowed by the absence of a good part of the Judiciary, due to the unprecedented crisis it was experiencing after the resignation of its president, Carlos Lesmes, this 2023 the negotiations for Sánchez’s investiture will mark a festive in which more than 4,000 soldiers, 86 aircraft, and 142 vehicles will parade through the center of the capital. In the authorities’ gallery, chaired by the Kings and the Princess of Asturias – another of the protagonists of the day – the President of the Government and the leader of the opposition will coincide, the greatest exponents of the political clash.
The box returns to Madrid’s Plaza de Neptuno, after years at the foot of the Santiago Bernabeu. After some media outlets published that the change in location responded to the intention of distancing the public from the authorities to avoid the roar of boos, yesterday the Ministry of Defense denied the information, alleging that the change is due to a new lane. bicycle on the Paseo de la Castellana that prevents the military parade from taking place normally. The military parade, thus, will begin in the Atocha ring road and will end in the Plaza de Colón.
At 11:00 a.m. the Kings are scheduled to arrive with the Princess of Asturias, who will witness the parade in military uniform of the Army. She will do it days after she is sworn in and a few weeks after turning 18. Then it will also be premiered at the reception of the Royal Palace. Minutes before 11:00 the President of the Government should arrive, aware that for another year he will have to endure the shower of insults and whistles from citizens who get up early to grab the seats closest to the stands.
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, who on other October 12 events has also received her share of boos, warned yesterday that those who whistle in the National Holiday parade “disrespect” the king, the Armed Forces and “the immense majority of citizens.” A thesis that is not at all shared by the general coordinator of the Popular Party, Elías Bendodo, who defends that citizens have every right to express themselves in the streets against Sánchez.
Sánchez will not be alone, almost the entire acting government will accompany the President of the Executive, still pending a date to reissue the investiture. Four ministers from the purple wing of the Government will be with him: Vice President Yolanda Díaz, Minister of Social Rights, Ione Belarra, and the heads of Consumption, Alberto Garzón, and Universities, Joan Subirats. The Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, will not be there, because she is on an official trip to Chile.
And in the absence of new faces, still, in the central Government; Yes, regional presidents are inaugurated after the executive ball last summer after the elections. The 11 regional presidents of the Popular Party, the three of the PSOE and the Canarian Coalition will attend the meeting, while the Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, and the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, will not attend, as usual.
All of them will witness how for the first time in history a female parachutist, María del Carmen Gómez, will jump with the Spanish flag. Corporal Gómez will jump from a C-212 Aviocar preceded by First Corporal Miguel Antonio Gómez Rivas, who has the responsibility of being the first to land, acting as a guide for his team. Afterwards, the raising of the national flag and the tribute to those who gave their lives for Spain, which will be followed by the passage of the Eagle Patrol, the air and land parades of Units of the Armies, the Navy, the Civil Guard, the Emergency Military (UME), the Royal Guard, the State Security Forces and Bodies and various Security, Civil Protection and Emergency organizations. Like every year, members of the Legion will also parade, accompanied by the mascot that annually attracts everyone’s attention. This Thursday, it will be a goat: Pacoli.
