Kings Felipe VI and Letizia presided this Monday over the central act of the National Holiday, the traditional military parade held in the center of Madrid, with a large public attendance and without alterations to the planned schedule. The parade covered the axis of the Prado and Recoletos and concluded, as in previous editions, in Colón square.
The day was conditioned by the pre-campaign for the general elections on November 29 and by the trip that the monarchs are scheduled to make this Tuesday and Wednesday to Ceuta and Melilla, a displacement with which they want to convey a message of "normality" after the massive entry of migrants registered last July.
As in other editions, during the parade, insults, whistles, and shouts directed at the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, were heard, both at the beginning and at the end of the event.
Institutional presence and the most notable absences
In total, 4,380 members of the Armed Forces, the State Security Forces and Corps, and other public civil institutions participated, all in gala uniform. Of that number, 3,850 were men and 530 were women.
All ministers from the Government attended except four: the head of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, the Minister of Youth and Childhood, Sira Rego, the Minister of Health, Mónica García, and the head of Social Rights and Agenda 2030, Pablo Bustinduy. Along with the Executive, other military authorities were present, including the Chief of Staff of the Defense (JEMAD), Admiral General Teodoro Esteban López Calderón.
In the stands, all regional presidents were also seen except for the Navarrese María Chivite, the Lehendakari Imanol Pradales, whose absence from the October 12 events is habitual, and the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno, who is in Brussels to participate in the plenary session of the Committee of the Regions (CdR).
In addition, political leaders such as the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the socialist spokesperson, Montse Mínguez, and institutional representatives such as the president of Congress, Francina Armengol, the president of the Senate, Pedro Rollán, the president of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), Isabel Perelló, and the Attorney General of the State, Teresa Peramato, among others, attended.
One of the most notable absences was that of the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, who already declined to attend the authorities' stand in 2025 and this time chose to celebrate Hispanic Day in Ceuta, where he will participate in the floral offering in homage to the fallen.
The anecdote with the Order of the Golden Fleece and the parachute jump
The parade began past 11:00 a.m. with the arrival of Felipe VI, dressed in the gala uniform of the Air and Space Army, and Letizia at Cánovas del Castillo square, where the royal stand was installed. Alongside them were Infanta Sofía and Princess Leonor, who repeated the gala uniform of the Army after completing her military training in the three academies of the Armed Forces.
Precisely, Leonor starred in one of the images of the day when the distinguished order of the Golden Fleece fell from her, which she later picked up from the ground, after the king pointed it out to her, and put it in her pocket. Later, in the stand, it was her father who repositioned it.
The monarch received military honors and the battalion's novelties, after which he reviewed the troops and greeted the authorities, headed by Pedro Sánchez, the JEMAD, and the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles.
Then came one of the most anticipated and also most risky moments of the event, the parachute jump. The maneuver was carried out by members of the Air and Space Army Parachute Acrobatic Patrol (PAPEA), with Sergeant 1st Class Pablo García Matanza as the flag bearer, carrying a 24 square meter and 15 kg flag, and Corporal 1st Class José Antonio Lago Rubio as guide.
Both managed to land precisely next to the Neptune fountain, despite the difficulty of the maneuver due to vegetation and the proximity of buildings. After the flag raising, a tribute was held to those who gave their lives for Spain, in which the Head of State and the Princess of Asturias laid a laurel wreath.
The tribute concluded with the flyover of the Mirlo Formation, which used the new training aircraft for aviators, the Pilatus PC-21, with the colors of the national emblem. This Air Force squadron replaced the Patrulla Águila in 2025, after the retirement of the C-101s, which were in service for 40 years.
Those five planes opened the air parade, in which 34 fighter and training aircraft participated, including the model piloted by Leonor, 16 transport aircraft, including the one for the parachute jump, and 32 helicopters, distributed in 18 formations. The closing was carried out by a Eurofighter Typhoon.
The UME, the goat Babieca, and the new 8x8 Dragón armored vehicles
Then the ground parade began, with the motorized units at the front. In total, 128 vehicles were exhibited, including armored and heavy intervention vehicles, in addition to 39 motorcycles and 286 horses. Five dogs also took part, two of them from the Military Emergency Unit (UME), and the mascot of the 'Don Juan de Austria' 3rd Tercio of the Legion, a two-year-old goat named Babieca.
Along the route, units from the Armies, the Navy, the Civil Guard, the UME, the Royal Guard, the State Security Forces and Corps, and various security, civil protection, and emergency organizations paraded.
As a novelty, attendees were able to see for the first time three 8x8 Dragón armored vehicles from the Army, specifically two in Infantry version (VCI) and one in Sappers version (VCZAP), belonging to the 'King Alfonso XIII' Brigade of the Legion (BRILEG). These armored vehicles had already been shown in the military parade held this year in Vigo on the occasion of the DIFAS.
Another highlight of the parade was the anniversary of the VIII Colón Flag of the Legion, which completed the route with its specific pace, at a rhythm of 160 steps per minute.
Reception at the Royal Palace
At the end of the parade, the Kings greeted the military authorities responsible and participants in the parade, and then the national flag was lowered. Attention then shifted to the Royal Palace, where, as every year, the Kings offer a reception on the occasion of the National Holiday to the highest instances of the State, as well as personalities from the business, science, and culture worlds.
This year, the invitation also includes representatives of Ceuta and Melilla civil society, coinciding with their majesties' visit to both autonomous cities on October 13 and 14, a trip promised by Sánchez himself weeks ago and which will take place two and a half months after the crisis in Ceuta.
