Spain had no official presence at the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris over the weekend for one simple reason: the government of Pedro Sánchez reportedly decided not to send anyone, whether a government minister or the king of Spain.
For Spaniards, their country was conspicuously unrepresented at the international cultural event of the year, the opening ceremonies of the continent’s most famous and beloved cathedral, marvelously rebuilt after the devastating 2019 fire.
While dignitaries including the UK’s Prince William, Moroccan prince Mulay Rachid, U.S. first lady Jill Biden, and, most famously, President-elect Donald Trump graced Saturday’s ceremonies, no member of the Spanish royal family nor the government was present. Many have criticized Spain’s king for not attending. The royal family has not said a word publicly to explain why the event never made it onto the king’s agenda. Unless of a personal nature, the king’s travels abroad in representation of Spain require approval from the government, since the Spanish constitution stipulates that the government sets foreign policy.
On such trips, the government sends a minister to accompany the royals. In this sense, El Debate explains, it was enough for the government simply not to assign a representative from the Spanish government to effectively prevent the king from going.
This seems to have been the chosen tactic. In response to El Debate’s question to the office of the prime minister about the matter, it denied that it had prohibited the king from going to Paris for the reopening celebration.
“There is no reason to ban him,” came the response from the news site’s sources. “We maintain the most cordial institutional relationship in the world. There is absolute respect for the King’s House and we would never prohibit something like that.”
It explained that only the minister of culture Ernest Urtasun and the king of Spain had received invitations to the event and that they were personal and non-transferable. The minister did not wish to attend, Moncloa explained, but insisted it had not prohibited the king from attending.
El Debate writes that the government’s explanation has little credibility since other heads of state, such as the UK’s King Charles III and U.S. president Joe Biden, sent representatives in their stead and Italian PM Georgia Meloni attended. As El Debate notes, it would be strange for the French government to discriminate against Spain and send only two invitations in a merely personal capacity. Any discrimination, then, seems to have come from Spanish premier Pedro Sánchez, who decided to leave his country out.
