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Saturday, February 8, 2025

Spain. Princess Eleanor set sail on a six-month cruise. As part of military training

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On Saturday, 19-year-old Princess Eleonora of Asturias, heir to the Spanish throne, began a several-month cruise on the sailing ship Juan Sebastian de Elcano. It is part of her three-year military training.

“The princess sets sail,” wrote the “El Pais” daily, publishing photos of the farewell to the heir to the throne by her parents, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, which took place on Saturday morning in the port of Cadiz in the south of the country.

Princess Eleanor will spend the next five months aboard the Elcano, a Spanish Navy training ship built almost 100 years ago, as an ordinary cadet. The sailing ship will cover 17,000 nautical miles, visiting eight countries, including: BrazilUruguay, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic and United States.

Eleanor will disembark in New York and fly to Gijon in the north in early July Spain.

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Princess Eleonora of Asturias boards the sailing ship Juan Sebastian de ElcanoPAP/EPA/ROMAN RIOS

A similar journey to Elcano was made by Philip VI in 1987 as part of his military training, and in 1958 by his father, the future King John Charles I.

Farewell ceremony for cadets

Saturday's farewell ceremony for 76 cadets, including nine women, was attended by, among others, Defense Minister Margarita Robles. The head of the ministry was late for the ceremony due to fog, which prevented her plane from landing, and was booed by the gathered people.

Princess Eleanor among the cadets before boarding the shipPAP/EPA/ROMAN RIOS

– Favorable seas and favorable winds – the royal couple wished the sailors, reminding that “Elcano is a floating embassy of Spain.”

King Felipe VI of Spain and Queen Letizia say goodbye to their daughter as she boards the shipPAP/EPA/ROMAN RIOS

Princess Eleanor's three-year military training

In mid-August 2023, the Spanish Royal Court announced the start of three-year military training by Eleonora, then 17 years old. The program includes studies at the land forces academy in Zaragoza, current training at the naval academy in Pontevedra in Galicia and the last one – at the aviation school in San Javier in Murcia.

Princess Eleanor will complete her two-year secondary education at UWC Atlantic College in 2023 Wales. She will be able to pursue university studies only after completing her military training.

19-year-old Princess Eleonora of AsturiasPAP/EPA/ROMAN RIOS

Spain is a hereditary parliamentary monarchy, where the king is the head of state and commander of the armed forces, and symbolizes the unity and durability of the state. If Princess Eleanor takes the throne, she will be the first woman to reign in Spain since Queen Isabella II in the 19th century.

Main photo source: PAP/EPA/ROMAN RIOS



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