The King and Queen of Spain accompanied by their daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía, presided over the National Offering to the Apostle Santiago, Patron Saint of Spain, at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

Santiago or Saint James, in English, is the Patron Saint of Spain. The annual Feast of Saint James the Great (Dia de Santiago) takes place in Santiago de Compostela on 25th July and is a public holiday in Galicia. This year the Holy Year, also called Jacobean Year or Ano Xacobeo, occurs when the feast day of Saint James, falls on a Sunday 25th of July. This happens every 5, 6 or 11 years. ​

Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of Saint James, a leading Catholic pilgrimage route since the 9th century.

The Queen of Spain, as Honorary President of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) and the AECC Scientific Foundation, presided over a working meeting in Madrid.

It has been 50 years since the AECC created its Scientific Foundation to promote cancer research. Her Majesty was informed of the AECC's preparations for a series of commemorative events from September 2021 to September 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary. 

The AECC was founded in 1953, it is an NPO, made up of patients, families, volunteers, collaborators and professionals. The mission of the AECC is to educate in health, support and accompany sick people and their families, including the financing of research projects that will allow a better diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

The Queen of Spain chaired a working meeting at Zarzuela Palace, to analyse the effects of the pandemic on the mental health of Spain.

Representatives of the Mental Health Confederation participated; Royal Board on Disability; Red Cross; Foundation for Aid Against Drug Addiction (FAD); Spanish Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities (CERMI); UNICEF; Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) and Spanish Federation of Rare Diseases (FEDER).

The objective of the meeting, in the words of González Zapico, the president of the Spain Mental Health Confederation,  is "to share knowledge and converge in meeting points between all entities to work together with mental health as a transversal axis".

The King and Queen of Spain were at El Pardo Royal Palace on Friday to receive in audience a representation of the Spanish Olympic team that will participate in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The Spanish Olympic team will consist of a total of 314 athletes that will represent Spain in 29 of the 33 sports present in the Tokyo games which will be held ​from 21 July to 8 August 2021.

Queen Letizia brought back the red Carolina Herrera fit-and-flare zip-front dress she first sported for an audience with the Spanish Men's Basketball Team in September 2019.

She continued the patriotic colourway to her feet, wearing the red suede Carolina Herrera sling back pumps.

Letizia accessorized with her Gold & Roses 'Skyline' crawler earrings.

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia presided over a State tribute for the victims of COVID-19 and recognition of health personnel who gave their lives to save thousands of people, at the Royal Palace of Madrid.

The event was attended by the families of 102 workers in the health sector who died during the pandemic, from all over the country. Four families of healthcare workers who died during the pandemic received the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit on behalf of all honoured health workers. Symbolising hope, the first vaccinated people in Spain from several autonomous communities with an age range between 78-96 years also attended.

With this act, the Royal Family, the institutions and Spanish society as a whole wanted to express to the families their pain and gratitude for their work and for their total dedication. After the State Tribute, Their Majesties met with families of the deceased health workers.

The King and Queen of Spain accompanied by their daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía, hosted an audience with the Board of Trustees of the Spanish Committee of the United World Colleges Foundation (UWC), along with the sponsors of Scholarships and students of the 2021-2023 class, at La Zarzuela Palace, Madrid.

Today, UWC has 18 colleges on 4 continents; they provide a challenging and transformative educational experience to a deliberately diverse group of young people.  These colleges teach the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma as a formal academic program, in the development of which UWC played a major role, while also emphasising the importance of experiential learning, community service, and outdoor activities.

The Spanish Committee of the UWC Foundation was established in 1996, under the High Patronage of King Felipe VI and the Presidency of SARD Carlos de Borbón, Infante of Spain. The Foundation is in charge of raising the necessary funds so that each year a greater number of Spanish students can attend the UWC. It is reported Princess Leonor will be studying the IB Diploma in Wales at the UWC Atlantic College.

The King and Queen of Spain presided over the solemn opening ceremony of the Jacobean Year 2021-2022, in the Navarra town of Roncesvalles. ​

A Jacobean Year or Ano Xacobeo is a Jubilee or Holy Year. A year is considered a Holy Year when the 25th of July, the feast of Santiago Apóstol, falls on a Sunday. The number of pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago increase significantly during Holy Years, particularly in July, as many pilgrims aim to arrive in Santiago de Compostela in time for Saint James Day celebrations.

The Camino de Santiago de Compostela (the Way of St. James), is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain. ​

Their Majesties arrived at the Hermitage of San Salvador, in Alto de Ibañeta, they walked the section of the Camino de Santiago to the urban complex of Orreaga - Roncesvalles, and to the Sancti Spiritus chapel, an old pilgrim cemetery. After a brief meeting with the members of the Government of Navarra and attending authorities the King and Queen went to the Priory House where they signed the Gold Book of Navarra. At the Collegiate Church of Santa María de Roncesvalles, they commemorated the Jacobean Year 2021-2022. Following the ceremony, Their Majesties went to the Chapel of San Agustín, where a floral offering was made in front of the tomb of the King of Navarre, Sancho VII el Fuerte.

The King and Queen of Spain inaugurated the 40th edition of the International Contemporary Art Fair-ARCOmadrid 2021, which takes place from July 7 to 11, at Ifema, Madrid.

​ARCOmadrid is one of the prominent contemporary art fairs on the international circuit, held in the Spanish capital annually. The event attracts collectors, curators, museum directors, gallery owners, artists and professionals from all around the world, which makes the show a unique and unmissable event on the international art calendar. ​

This year ARCOmadrid brings together a total of 130 galleries from 26 countries. 

The Queen of Spain participated online in an event that takes place in parallel to the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, titled 'On the road to recovery from COVID-19 and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals: let's address the challenges of people living with a rare disease as human rights, a priority for sustainable development.' The forum is held between July 6 and 15 in New York. ​

This is a milestone and a further step in Spain's support towards the approval of the UN Resolution on Rare Diseases, for which the FEDER (Spanish Federation of Rare Diseases) has been working for years together with similar international platforms to urge all member states to develop policies that respond to families who live with these pathologies or are in search of a diagnosis. A Resolution that would allow greater recognition of rare diseases at the international level to make recommendations, place the issue on the agenda of the UN system and demand the action of United Nations agencies.

In her speech, Her Majesty said that “rare diseases affect more than 300 million people around the world. And that two out of three make their debut early before they are two years old ”. These are "very complex, progressive and disabling chronic pathologies that - I continue - make these children very vulnerable patients with great health and social dependency." For this reason, Queen Letizia stressed that “Spain, together with Brazil and Qatar and with the determined impulse of FEDER, Eurordis and Rare Diseases International, will present a resolution granting the common framework of fundamental action and cover the requirements of those who suffer from a minority disease or seek an adequate diagnosis ”.

The Queen of Spain held a working meeting with members of the management team of Abertis Foundation and UNICEF Spain to address the projects that they jointly promote, at the Abertis Foundation in Madrid. ​

The Abertis Foundation was founded in 1999 with the aim of responding to the impact that the economic activity of the Abertis Group has on the different territories and countries where the Group is present. The Foundation carries out actions aimed at improving road safety in order to reduce accidents. These actions are focused on child road safety education, awareness of young people and prevention in the case of older drivers.  

After the working meeting, Her Majesty toured an exhibition commemorating the 75th anniversary of the creation of UNICEF, which also highlighted the alliance that it has maintained with the Abertis Group since 2017. Through a strategic alliance, they promote actions that contribute to improving road safety and reduce the impact of traffic accidents on children in countries such as Jamaica, the Philippines and Brazil.