Queen Letizia of Spain began her annual Spanish Co-operation tour on June 04th and this year’s destination is Guatemala. For the next three days, Letizia learn about the various programs, activities and projects being carried out the Spain in the country. Every year, Queen Letizia visit one country where Spanish Co-operation is present and participating in the development of the country actively through various projects targeting health, education, water and sanitation.
Letizia arrived at the International Airport “La Aurora” in Guatemala City on June 04th evening where she was received by the Spanish Ambassador to Guatemala and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Guatemala. After receiving the welcome from the delegates, Letizia called it a night and began the two days busy agenda on the next morning.
On June 05th, at the National Palace of Culture the First Lady of the Republic of Guatemala, Lucrecia Peinado, officially received the Spanish Queen. After the formal welcome, Letizia headed for the first meeting of the day, which happened to be a breakfast meeting joined by the delegates of the both countries.
Next was a meeting on the challenges in Mental Health in Guatemala, at which the Minister of Public Health and Social Welfare, the Minister of Public Education; the Minister of Labour and Social Security; the Minister of Labour and Social Security; Deputy Minister of Health; a psychotherapist; and representatives of the Ja-Marill Association were present.
After the meeting, Queen Letizia of Spain accompanied by Mrs. Lucrecia Peinado and the expert heritage coordinator, Luis Mozas, walked to the Centenary Park in Guatemala City, where they have learn about the rehabilitation works of the park carried out by the Spanish Cooperation and the local authorities. The objective of the program is to support the Municipality of Guatemala City in the processes of revitalizing the public space, improving the mobility, security and accessibility of the Historic Center of the city with a special gender focus.
At noon, Her Majesty the Queen headed to the Cultural Center of Spain in Guatemala where, accompanied by the general coordinator of Spanish Cooperation in Guatemala and the director of the Cultural Center of Spain in the country, she held a meeting with the members of the Spanish Cooperation Office, in which the Marco de Asociación País (MAP) with Guatemala explained the work carried out between 2021-2024.
The Cultural Centre of Spain was created in 2004 as the associated joint centre of AECID. It is part of the external structure of AECID since 9 May 2023 thanks to the approval of the Royal Decree establishing the new offices of Foreign Cooperation.
The Day ended with Queen visiting the Zone 18 of Guatemala City where accompanied by the mayor of Guatemala City and the head of the OCE Heritage program to see the works of the Escuela Taller Norte, the first School Workshop in Guatemala City established in 1999 after the devastating effects caused in October 1998 by Hurricane Mitch. From 1999 to 2018, the Gerona Workshop School which is known as the Central Workshop School now, with the permanent support of Spanish Cooperation, has trained more than 800 students. In 2021, the Municipality of Guatemala requested the Spanish Cooperation to support the construction project of Escuela Taller in the north of the city (Zona 18).
The last day of the visit began at the town of San José Chacayá where she visited several projects of Spanish cooperation. The first was on the sports track where currently the work on water and sanitation is being carried out by the local municipality and the Spanish Cooperation. The next stop of the day was Joint Urban Official School of the locality where some 20 7-year-old students met with the Queen. Letizia learnt about the various school facilities, Course curriculum and the need for expansion at the school.
She also learned about the hygiene education project RKUXYA (heart of water), a model for local governance and sustainability in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, implemented by the Action Against Hunger Foundation, with the aim of contributing to the reduction of the incidence of acute diarrhoeal diseases in 12 municipalities of the Department of Sololá, by strengthening the community, municipal structures and the Ministry of Public Health and Assistance.
Next, At the San José Chacayá Doña Letizia Primary Care Center, accompanied by the nurse of the Center and the operational technical coordinator of the organization Instituto de Salud Inclusive, Queen Letizia found more about the program “Strengthening Primary Health Care” (APS) and the Networks strategy to contribute to the comprehensive care and reduction of malnutrition in Guatemala.
The last stop in the town was the colonial church hall. At the Church Hall, Queen Letizia was briefed about a women based project that aims to empower the political participation of indigenous women. After that, Letizia held a meeting with leaders, within the framework of the project on the Economic and Political Empowerment of Indigenous Women for the Eradication of Gender-Based Violence, Racism and Discrimination, of the Association of Indigenous Cooperation for Integral Development.
In the afternoon, Queen Letizia headed to the Comprehensive Support Center for Women Survivors of Violence (CAIMUS) of the Department of Chimaltenango, where she visited the project “Autonomy and integral care for lives free of violence of indigenous and mestizo women,” carried out by the Andalusian Solidarity Association for Development. Next on the itinerary was Spanish Cooperation Training Center of Antigua Guatemala where she attended a health workshop organized by the ministries and secretariats of Health of the States of the SICA. After visiting the Library and the Documentation Centre, Doña Letizia has held a meeting with Spanish cooperation in the country and with a representation of the Spanish collectivity linked to cooperation.
The Ibero-American Training Centre in Antigua Guatemala is one of the four Units Abroad of AECID, responsible for coordinating and implementing cooperation activities in the Ibero-American region.With the other existing Ibero-American Training Centres, Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia), Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) and Montevideo (Uruguay), they guide their work to the same end and develop various programs as per the Spanish Cooperation Master Plan.
With the meeting, the trip came to its conclusion and Queen Letizia headed home. This was Letizia’s 9th Cooperation tour since she became the Queen of Spain in 2014. Letizia’s first trip was to Honduras and El Salvador in 2015. In 2017 Senegal, in 2018 she travelled to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, in 2019 to Mozambique, in 2020 Honduras, in 2021 to Paraguay; in 2022 the destination was the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and in 2023 to Colombia.
What Queen Letizia wore during Guatemala Cooperation Tour
As expected, Queen Letizia, throughout her visit, kept her outfit choices to minimal and coordinated with the Spanish Cooperation. She wore various white shirts with brown/green/grey jeans, Vivobarefoot Geo Court III Trainers/ Vivobarefoot Tracker FG Boots, stud earrings and her coreterno ring.