The King and Queen are presiding over the Armed Forces Day parade in Santa Cruz de Tenerife this Saturday. A total of 2,266 military personnel, along with 35 aircraft, 21 helicopters, 67 vehicles, and 33 motorbikes, will participate. At 11:30 local time (12:30 mainland time), King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will arrive at the royal stand, where they will be welcomed by Defence Minister Margarita Robles and the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral General Teodoro López Calderón.
After greeting the dignitaries, including the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, the royals will watch a parachute jump performed by members of the Air Force’s acrobatic team, Papea. The flag-raising ceremony and a tribute to those who gave their lives for Spain will follow, leading to a flyover by the Patrulla Águila, painting the sky with the national flag’s colours to kick off the parade.
A total of 3,266 personnel, 13% of whom are women, from the Army, Navy, Air and Space Force, Military Emergency Unit (UME), Royal Guard, and Civil Guard, will parade on foot, in vehicles, or in aircraft along a 1,120-metre route.
The aerial display will be succeeded by the ground parade, before a final flypast by the Patrulla Águila wraps up the event, which annually honours the Armed Forces. This marks the second time Santa Cruz de Tenerife has hosted the parade, the first being in 1986 when the current King participated as a cadet of the General Military Academy.
