Overview
- Wearing her Air and Space Force dress uniform as an alférez, Princess Leonor took part in the Royal Palace ceremony during the final year of her prescribed training at the General Air Academy in San Javier, due to conclude in July 2026.
- Felipe VI told the military leadership that 2025 left a growing sense of threat reaching the heart of Europe and underscored the need for well‑equipped forces and a rules‑based global order within NATO and EU frameworks.
- Defense Minister Margarita Robles emphasized Spain’s commitment to multilateralism and highlighted Leonor as an example for a new generation of women in uniform, asserting that without women there will be no peace or coexistence.
- Pedro Sánchez did not attend—the first such absence by a head of government in the democratic era—with Defense and Interior ministers representing the cabinet as he traveled to Paris for the Coalition of Volunteers for Ukraine meeting.
- Murcia’s regional president announced on January 2 that Leonor will receive the region’s Gold Medal in recognition of her training stage, following her first solo flight on December 18 in a Pilatus PC‑21.