The Spanish Royal Family has arrived in Catalonia, which for this week will act as the host for the Princess of Girona Awards.
Now in their 15th edition, the scheme was created in 2009 to celebrate the young talents of Spain.
Kickstarting the two days of events on Tuesday, 9th July, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía made a rare solo visit to the atelier of sculptor Jaume Plensa, located in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, near Barcelona.
Upon arrival, they were welcomed by local authorities, as well as senior officials from the Princess of Girona Foundation.
Once inside the building, the royal sisters met with a group of young people who have received a Princess of Girona Award in previous editions of the scheme, before starting their tour of the atelier.
Mr Plensa then guided the tour, offering a short lecture titled “The importance of arty in public spaces”, before guiding the Princess and the Infanta through a sampling of his art pieces.
The pieces showcased were mainly reproductions, as the original sculptures sit all around the world – like his piece titled “Isabella”, the original of which sits in the Amazon Central offices in Seattle, USA.
Before leaving for their next scheduled engagements, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía got a chance to also visit the part of the building where Mr Plensa actually works on his pieces; there, the artist showed the two Royals the materials he uses to create both his pieces and the reproductions they saw.
In the evening of Tuesday, the Princess and Infanta were joined by the King and Queen in Lloret de Mar for a dinner hosted by the royals in honour of previous recipients of the Princess of Girona Awards.
Prince or Princess of Girona is the second title that is bestowed upon the heir to the Spanish throne, together with that of Prince or Princess of Asturias, Prince or Princess of Viana, Duke or Duchess of Montblanc, Earl or Countess of Cervera and Lord or Lady of Balaguer.
Curiously, most of these titles (Prince of Girona, Duke of Montblanc, Earl of Cervera and Lord of Balaguer) relate to the inheritance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Aragon, while the title of Prince of Viana refers to the inheritance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Navarre.
