King calls for strengthening health and science in third tribute to Covid victims

Under the slogan “Applause for Remembrance”, the Patio de la Armería has once again brought together representatives of institutions, politics, health and science to honor the nearly 109,000 recorded deaths since the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis in March 2020. “Spain is the same. A just and supportive country, he has always shown , With hope for the future. The imprint of everyone who is no longer with us will not be erased. They have our recognition and our memory that will remain intact forever,” the king assured the families of the victims present at the ceremony.

Among the 300 people present were the head of government, Pedro Sánchez, all his ministers, state authorities and nine regional presidents, including the Asturian Adrian Barbon. As they did last year, the President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonés, who traveled to Madrid directly to meet with Sánchez at the Palacio de la Moncloa, and Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, did not attend. Nor was the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, on a business trip to Venice, nor those in Murcia, the Community of Valencia, Galicia, Cantabria, and Navarre.

Vox declined to participate, saying it was a “false” tribute meant to cover up the government’s “disastrous” management of the early stages of the pandemic.

Felipe VI, in his address, focused on glorifying the legacy of those who died from COVID-19 as well as those who risked their lives “with generosity and courage” to save others. “We feel fear, frustration and sadness all together, but also, from the first moment, solidarity, admiration and gratitude to all the people who cared for the basic and urgent needs of others,” noting that the daily applause that citizens gave them toilets during two months of confinement “today is a clap of remembrance,” His Majesty stressed. Felipe VI highlighted the role of scientists: “Vaccines against Covid-19 have become one of the most important events in the history of universal health.”