I watched a lot of the ceremony on TVE1 whilst preparing for our house party . Very very impressive military display . I think a lot of the air display was cancelled due to the weather ( low clouds ) . Lots of cheers and patriotic chanting from the crowds as the king and queen emerged .
The organisers had security on high alert as there had been rumours that ETA would strike ... Thankfully that didn't happen .
My flatmate was keen to point out the Special Force when they marched past the Royal family . I have huge respect for the military and huge admiration for the soldiers BUT the uniforms that the special forces were wearing would have been very welcome in any of the Gay clubs here . Tight baseball style pants and shirts that were open practically to the waist ! And , unusually for the military , some guys wearing gold chains ( with a cross ) ...
Anyway it was just an observation , but I have to restate that I have enormous respect for these men and what they have to endure .
The whole parade was precision perfect , and I heard a lot of cheers for th Guardia Civil who have had deaths , recently , amongst their ranks at the hands of terrorist here in Spain and in France .
A footnote - My party for the Fiesta Nacional was a huge success !! Wow ... we had a blast and the appartment was decked out with plenty of big Spanish flags . A huge empanada de bonito , 2 legs of lamb ( cordero ) , 2 roast chickens , Jamon , Chorizo , lacon , croquetas ( made by my flatmate's cousin ) , different cheeses etc..... And for dessert my Spanish friend , Eva , made a tarta de queso ( cheese cake ) and a very big tiramisu ... Other guests brought desserts too .The food was all eaten ! Our first guest arrived at 2:15 and our last 3 guests left about 11:30 pm . It was a great mix of people , nationalities , languages and great fun ... And LOTS of photos !! I want to do it all again ! Steve

This year I decided to stay home. I was afraid of the weather although at the end there was no rain!

I also read many of MadridMan\'s entries on his blog , and although I appreciate your efforts to always give an objetive and neutral view of things (not everybody does that), it seems to me that you are a bit overinfluenced, perhaps by your left-wing Spanish friends?

This of course if not critizism to you or your great website which is great!!

Hi Estopa1!

Influences swirl around all of us and I do try to be objective and even critical of both sides, human and otherwise. This tends to cause people more introspection than they might have otherwise. My friends are from both sides of the party spectrum but I make my own decisions - as do we all. Sorry, but since we have a "No Politics" policy on our message board we cannot discuss this further publicly. Feel free to email/PM me though.

Saludos, MadridMan

Mmmmm...croquetas, my favorite, I can't wait to get back and have some.....