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King Felipe VI of Spain has once again expressed his support for Ukraine, as well as the "territorial integrity" and right to defence of the Ukrainian land and its people. The monarch has remained loyal to president VolodymyrZelenskyy ever since the beginning of the Russian invasion three years ago - an attitude which he expressed in his speech at the inauguration of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Sunday 2 March.
The king's statement comes as a response to the tense meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump at the White House, which happened only 48 hours before the conference.
Spain's PM, Pedro Sánchez, was not present at the MWC dinner as he was at the summit of European leaders in London, where the attending countries doubled down their support for Ukraine. Government ministers Óscar López and Jordi Hereu attended on his behalf. Also present were the deputy executive of the European Commission, Teresa Ribera, and the president of the Generalitat (Catalonia's government), Salvador Illa. Unlike his predecessors, Illa greeted King Felipe VI at the entrance to the event. It had been years since a president of the Generalitat welcomed the Monarchy, while still addressing the Catalan conflict.
Ever since he became head of the Generalitat, Illa has set in motion an agenda of rebuilding relations with all state institutions. He was received in an audience by the King at the Zarzuela shortly after taking office and took part in the events of 12-O and Constitution Day. His desire to bring political normalisation back to Catalonia after the decade of the 'procés' has earned him criticism from his ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia) partners. The pro-independence movement had criticised the Socialist leader for seeking a harmonious relationship with the head of state. Contrary to Illa, the president of the parliament of Catalonia, Josep Rull from the Junts party, refused to greet the king at the MWC dinner. However, unlike other years, this year's conference didn't see any protests against Felipe VI's presence.
Under the MWC motto "Converge, connect and create", King Felipe VI called for "working towards joint goals: improving the Spanish economy and consolidating our performance both as an attractive and stable market and as a loyal partner in Europe and around the world". He highlighted Spain's advances in communications and technology, both celebrating artificial intelligence and warning against its naive usage. According to the monarch, the key would be finding the right balance between innovation and regulation.
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