ES / EN
- July 11, 2025 -
No Result
View All Result
OnCubaNews
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
OnCubaNews
ES / EN
Home Cuba

King Felipe VI of Spain decorates Eusebio Leal

The monarchs, who this Wednesday made a tour of the historic center of Havana, received the “Giraldilla,” the symbol of the Cuban capital, from the city’s highest authority.

by
  • OnCuba Staff
    OnCuba Staff,
  • OnCuba editorial staff
November 13, 2019
in Cuba
0
Felipe VI of Spain decorates historian Eusebio Leal with the Grand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Carlos III, in Havana’s Palace of the Captains General, on November 13, 2019. Photo: @CasaReal / Twitter.

Felipe VI of Spain decorates historian Eusebio Leal with the Grand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Carlos III, in Havana’s Palace of the Captains General, on November 13, 2019. Photo: @CasaReal / Twitter.

The king and queen of Spain, on a visit to Cuba, this Wednesday decorated City of Havana Historian Eusebio Leal after a tour of the historic center of the Cuban capital during which Leal was their guide.

King Felipe VI decorated the historian with the Grand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Carlos III, granted by the Spanish government in recognition of Leal’s work at the head of Havana’s restoration. The ceremony took place in the Palace of the Captains General, the island’s former government house during colonial times and today the headquarters of the City Museum.

It is the most distinguished civilian decoration that can be granted in Spain, established in 1771 by King Carlos III, which Leal adds to another conferred by Spain, the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabel la Católica, granted in September 2017, according to Prensa Latina news agency.

Los Reyes imponen la Gran Cruz de la Orden de Carlos III al historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana, Eusebio Leal. Viaje de Estado a Cuba. @MAECgob https://t.co/4F3gUZudDt pic.twitter.com/OfDKxDEAiA

— Casa de S.M. el Rey (@CasaReal) November 13, 2019

After receiving the distinction, Leal, 77 and in a somewhat delicate state of health, recalled the historical links between Cuba and Spain, and spoke highly of Spain’s contribution to the island’s culture and idiosyncrasy.

Also in the Palace, the president of the Provincial Assembly of Havana, Reinaldo García Zapata, gave Felipe VI the “Giraldilla,” the symbol of the Cuban capital. The ceremony took place in the courtyard of the monumental building and before the marble statue of Christopher Columbus.

Related Posts

Sandra Sotolongo, co-director of the “inSurGENTES” project, during an activity in the vegetable garden. Photo: Courtesy.

Insurgents, an open-air revolution

July 10, 2025
Private business on Infanta and 23rd Streets, in Vedado, Havana. Photo: AMD.

MSMEs barely growing and their slowdown hinders competition and economic dynamism

July 9, 2025
Entrance to San Juan Park, located east of Santiago.

San Juan Hill: heritage in the attic?

July 6, 2025
Headquarters of the Matanzas People’s Court, where the trial was held. Photo: Matanzas People’s Court/Facebook.

Prosecutor’s Office requests up to 9 years in prison for synthetic drug trafficking in Matanzas

June 30, 2025

The statuette, which stands atop the Real Fuerza Fortress, was carved in the mid-17th century in the style of the one in Seville’s cathedral, known as the Giralda.

The president of the Provincial Assembly of Havana, Reinaldo García Zapata, gives the king of Spain the “Giraldilla,” symbol of the Cuban capital, at Havana’s Palace of the Captains General, on November 13, 2019. Photo: @CasaReal / Twitter.

The second day of Felipe and Letizia of Spain’s stay in Cuba began with a visit to the place where Havana was born, three days before the 500 years of the city founded by Spanish settlers will be commemorated.

After their tour this Tuesday through some of the historic center of Havana’s streets, the monarchs returned guided by Leal, the director of the Office of the City of Havana Historian and the architect for decades of the restoration of its architectural heritage.

Felipe VI, again wearing a guayabera shirt, this time white, and the queen, with a dress of the same color, began the tour in the Templete, the point where in 1519 the first town hall and the founding mass were celebrated next to a ceiba tree.

The king and queen of Spain and historian Eusebio Leal (c) in the Templete building during a tour of Old Havana, on November 13, 2019. Photo: Juan Carlos Hidalgo / EFE.

According to tradition, hundreds of people come every November 16 to the small neoclassical building, built in 1828 by Fernando VII, to go around the ceiba three times, throw some coins in the air and make a wish.

The king and queen did not participate in this ritual, but in the shade of the ceiba tree―the original survived until 1753―they listened carefully to Leal’s explanations about the symbolism of the place. The event was also attended by Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, the president of the National Assembly, Esteban Lazo, and that of the Havana Assembly, Reinaldo García Zapata.

The king and queen of Spain, Minister of Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell (l) and historian Eusebio Leal (2-r) on a tour of Old Havana during their three-day official visit to Cuba, on November 13, 2019. Photo: Juan Carlos Hidalgo / EFE.

Together with the entourage, Felipe VI, with the municipal hand cane, and Letizia crossed the park of the Plaza de Armas, outlined in 1520, which makes it the oldest of the four colonial-style squares of the historic center of the city, and where the statue of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Hero of the Cuban Nation and first president of the republic during the war of liberation against Spain, is erected.

Upon arriving at the Palace of the Captains General, the royal cortege stopped before its facade, featuring the Havana shield that the monarchs gave to the now City Museum on the occasion of their historic visit for such a special date as the 500th anniversary. It is one of the most special gifts that the Spanish Crown has made for the occasion, being a hand-made tapestry from the Royal Tapestry Factory.

The king and queen of Spain talk with historian Eusebio Leal (r) in the Palace of the Captains General during a tour of Old Havana, on November 13, 2019. Photo: Juan Carlos Hidalgo / EFE.

The Palace replaced the red and yellow flag in the throne room in March of last year as indicated by Eusebio Leal, placing it alongside the flags of the countries that supported Cuba on its path to independence.

“A part of the restored history is in this room,” said Leal, who is still heading the restoration of the historic center of Havana, which UNESCO declared a World Heritage Site in 1982.

One of the attractions of the Palace is the “Untouched Throne of Havana,” which has been waiting for a king of Spain to sit on it since 1791, when the building was finished. A wait that Felipe VI will prolong, as did his father, Juan Carlos I, when he was in Havana in 1999 on the occasion of the Iberian-American Summit.

Historian Eusebio Leal shows Felipe IV and Letizia the untouched throne of Havana’s Palace of the Captains General, on November 13, 2019. Photo: @CasaReal / Twitter.

“I wouldn’t have fit in it. I would have had to sit in it with all the Spaniards,” said Don Juan Carlos to justify his refusal.

The king and queen will return tonight to the Palace of the Captains General to offer a dinner for Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. There Felipe VI will deliver the most important speech of his visit to the island, which will conclude this Thursday, when the royal couple travel to Santiago de Cuba.

EFE / OnCuba

  • OnCuba Staff
    OnCuba Staff,
  • OnCuba editorial staff
Tags: cuba and spainEusebio Leal
Previous Post

Two Cuban migrants stabbed to death in Mexico’s southern border

Next Post

Tightening the Blockade/Embargo Against Cuba, Trump and the Forgery of Truth

OnCuba Staff

OnCuba Staff

OnCuba Staff

OnCuba Staff

Next Post
Photo: Kaloian.

Tightening the Blockade/Embargo Against Cuba, Trump and the Forgery of Truth

Cuban Embassy in the United States. Photo: EFE / Archive.

Fernández de Cossío: U.S. denies visas to Cuban diplomats and forces Cuba to “reciprocate”

Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Cuba: re-dollarization of the economy and failure of the CUC

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

The conversation here is moderated according to OnCuba News discussion guidelines. Please read the Comment Policy before joining the discussion.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Most Read

  • Flags of Cuba and the United States, seen in perspective in Havana. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

    Trump reinstates hard-line Cuba embargo as Havana condemns US measure as “criminal”

    29 shares
    Share 12 Tweet 7
  • Lester Lescay: “I left Cuba because I didn’t want to spend my youth there.”

    17 shares
    Share 7 Tweet 4
  • San Juan Hill: heritage in the attic?

    12 shares
    Share 5 Tweet 3
  • Los Palacios, land of Cuban rice harvested by Vietnamese

    12 shares
    Share 5 Tweet 3
  • A sanctuary for jazz in Cuba: César López’s dream

    15 shares
    Share 6 Tweet 4

Most Commented

  • Photo: Kaloian.

    Private sector and tourism in Cuba. Why not?

    12 shares
    Share 5 Tweet 3
  • About us
  • Work with OnCuba
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Moderation policy for comments
  • Contact us
  • Advertisement offers

OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors

OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}