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Madrid’s streets filled with crowds, horses and aircraft on Monday October 12 for Spain’s National Day parade, but the real story this year was as much about politics as pageantry. With a general election called for 29 November, and the country still processing the fallout from July’s Ceuta migration crisis, the usual military spectacle carried rather more weight than in previous years.

 

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrived shortly before 11am, and his official car reached Plaza Cánovas del Castillo at 10.56am. He waited inside for almost four minutes before stepping out, right as the King’s entourage approached, a delay some reports described as a deliberate move to limit his time exposed to the crowd. It didn’t work entirely. Chants of “out, out, son of a bitch” rang out even before he’d fully emerged, and the jeering returned as he greeted ministers and regional leaders.

 

Two minutes later, the mood flipped entirely. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia arrived at 11.05am alongside Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía, and the crowd erupted into cheers of “Long live the King!” Leonor, now in Army uniform having completed her military training, provided the day’s lighter moment when the Order of the Golden Fleece insignia slipped from her collar. She glanced at her father before bending down to retrieve it, and he later helped fasten it back in place once they’d reached the royal box.

 

The parade itself brought together around 4,400 personnel from the Armed Forces, Guardia Civil and other public bodies, alongside 144 vehicles, 39 motorbikes, 50 aircraft, 32 helicopters, 286 horses and five service dogs. An estimated 80,000 people lined the route along Paseo del Prado and Paseo de Recoletos, now in its fourth year running this way due to ongoing works on Paseo de la Castellana. Clear skies meant the parachute display went off without a hitch, with Sergeant First Class Pablo García Matanza and Corporal First Class José Antonio Lago Rubio both landing safely near the Neptune Fountain, the latter carrying the Spanish flag.

 

There were a few genuine firsts too. The Legion’s new mascot, a goat named Babieca, made its debut appearance, and three 8x8 Dragón armoured vehicles took part for the first time, alongside the Air Force’s Eurofighters replacing the veteran C-101s that Leonor herself once trained to fly.

 

Politically, the day was never going to escape scrutiny. Santiago Abascal skipped the event for the second year running, choosing instead to mark the day in Ceuta alongside French far right leader Jordan Bardella. “I didn’t want to share the stage with this traitorous government,” he said. “On a day like today, I could only be in Ceuta.” Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid, offered no greeting to Sánchez when the pair crossed paths, remarking afterwards that it might be his “last National Day parade” as Prime Minister. Sánchez, for his part, used his own remarks that day to focus on “rights already won” and “those yet to come.”

 

Not every regional leader made it. Navarre’s María Chivite and Andalucía’s Juanma Moreno were both absent due to scheduling conflicts, while the Basque Country’s Lehendakari skipped the event as has become tradition. Catalonia’s Salvador Illa did attend, breaking with his region’s usual nationalist stance for the second year running.

 

The day closed with a reception at the Royal Palace, where the King and Queen welcomed more than a thousand guests, including around fifty residents of Ceuta and Melilla, ahead of the monarchs’ own visit to the two autonomous cities later in the week.

 

 

Images: casareal.es and Pedro Sanchez/X.com