The President of the Government informed the King, shortly after 9 in the morning, of his decision to continue leading the Government as, two hours later, he made public in his appearance that took place after 11 in the morning in the Moncloa palace. After receiving Pedro Sánchez, the Head of State continued with his planned agenda and traveled to Hoyo de Manzanares (Madrid) to visit a center for improvised explosive devices, where he was when the President’s decision was made public.
The meeting, which took place in the office of the Head of State, has not been officially communicated by either the Moncloa or the Zarzuela, but it has been confirmed unofficially and has lasted about twenty minutes. Afterwards, the President of the Government returned to his residence by the same route by which he arrived at Zarzuela, through the Valdemarin entrance, a restricted access that is also the shortest route between the Zarzuela complex and that of La Moncloa. In this way, the President of the Government has avoided access to Somontes, in whose vicinity several media teams were installed.
After learning of Pedro Sánchez’s decision and taking into account that it, unlike a hypothetical resignation, did not imply the implementation of any constitutional mechanism in which he would have to intervene, the Head of State has continued with his planned official agenda. for this Monday, which led him to visit, as planned, the Center of Excellence Against Improvised Explosive Devices, located in the Madrid town of Hoyo de Manzanares.
The President of the Government already told the Head of State, last Wednesday, although not in person, the content of the letter he published that afternoon, in which he announced his intention to take five days of reflection to decide whether to continue. or not at the head of the Government. According to official Zarzuela sources, the King and the President of the Government remain “in permanent contact”
The King’s agenda for today has not been modified, and after receiving Sánchez, he traveled to the town of Hoyo de Manzanares, located in the mountains of Madrid, where he visited the Center of Excellence Against Improvised Explosive Devices, which provides experience against improvised explosive devices to reinforce the security of Spanish and allied forces deployed in operations. The arrival of the King was scheduled for 10 in the morning, but he finally arrived at 10:15 a.m. and remained in the center until after 1:30 p.m. The official announcement by the President of the Government coincided with the moment in which the King was having a talk with the center’s commanders. .
Dressed in the uniform of a captain general of the Army, the King, according to the Efe agency, began his visit with a meeting in which they explained the operation of the center, located on the grounds of the Academy of Engineers, where he had already been. in April 2012 as prince.
The Hoyo de Manzanares center, which was made available to NATO in November 2010, is where the improvised explosives specialist units that provide security to troops deployed on peace missions are trained.
After the explanation and the family photo, the head of state witnessed a demonstration of how NATO investigation teams act when faced with a suspicious car in which explosives have been found.
About 60 people, including military and civilians, from thirteen allied countries, work at the C-IED COE facilities, and half of them are Spanish. Hoyo de Manzanares is one of the 30 centers of excellence deployed by the Atlantic Alliance in Europe and the United States.
During his visit, which lasted about three hours, the king was accompanied by the chief of the Defense Staff (Jemad), Admiral Teodoro López Calderón.
