The Central Ceremony and Military Parade for Armed Forces Day 2025 will be held this Saturday, 7th June, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The most anticipated event of the week will showcase military personnel, tanks, and aircraft, highlighting the armament of our forces. Their Majesties, the King and Queen of Spain, alongside Princess Leonor, will preside over the event.
Saturday morning will be filled with emotion and sentiment for the military personnel who have laid down their lives, honourably defending Spain during missions abroad. At 10:30 AM, the Royal Honour Guard Battalion and dignitaries, including the Chief of Defence Staff, Defence Minister Margarita Robles, and local representatives, will begin arriving at the royal viewing stand.
It won’t be until 11:30 AM when Their Majesties arrive to kick off the celebration. The ceremony will commence with the presentation of honours and a tribute to the fallen. The Commander of the Honour Battalion will present updates to King Felipe VI, who will then inspect the assembled troops. Afterwards, the Royals will greet the dignitaries before taking their places at the viewing stand.
Next, a paratrooper from the Air and Space Army’s Acrobatic Parachute Patrol (PAPEA) will perform the traditional jump, carrying the National Flag, which will then be hoisted to the tune of the Royal March on a specially erected flagpole.
The event will continue with a tribute to those who gave their lives for Spain, featuring the Royal Band performing ‘Death is not the End’ and the placing of a laurel wreath at the base of the pedestal. One of the highly anticipated moments will follow, as the Águila Patrol paints the Tenerife sky with the National Flag using smoke from their CASA C-101 Aviojets, coinciding with the end of the Call to Prayer.
Honours will give way to the Military Parade.
After the tribute acts conclude, 3,266 members of the Army and Civil Guard will begin marching along Constitution Avenue, from the Exhibition Centre towards the Tenerife Auditorium, finishing at General Gutiérrez Mellado Square. The total route will be 1,120 metres on land, featuring the following vehicles and aircraft:
– 35 aircraft
– 21 helicopters
– 67 ground vehicles
– 33 motorcycles
The aerial section will take place first, with 35 aircraft and 21 helicopters, including Eurofighters, F-18s, Harriers, transport planes, and fire-fighting and maritime surveillance aircraft. The Águila Patrol will, as tradition dictates, conclude the aerial display with a flypast over Tenerife.
The ground parade and Canary presence
The parade will proceed with the passage of ground vehicles and soldier battalions, comprising 3,266 military personnel, 13% of whom are women. All branches of the Armed Forces, along with the Civil Guard and the Emergency Military Unit (UME), will take part in the military display. Highlights will include the presence of the ‘Duque de Alba’ No. 2 Tercio of the Legion with its traditional brisk march, the ‘Canarias’ XVI Brigade, and the 94th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment.
One of the highlights will be the Legion marching with its mascot, the goat Camarón, alongside its comrades. For animal welfare reasons, the usual mounted escort of horses has been omitted this year.
The military parade will conclude with the passage of the 52nd Melilla Regulars Group’s Honour Guard and the Command and Staff of GREG 52. Following this, the National Flag will be lowered, and Their Majesties the King and Queen will officially depart, concluding a day marked by honouring the Armed Forces and their commitment to Spain, at this Armed Forces Day 2025 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
