King and Queen of Spain to visit the Costa del Sol in September

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia on their coronation day, 19 June 2014

Less than three months into their reign, Spain’s new monarchs King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will be visiting the Costa del Sol from 5 – 7 September to attend the XIX edition of the Spain–United States Forum taking place at Marbella’s internationally renowned Hotel Don Carlos…

According to Spanish provincial daily La Opinión de Málaga, the royal couple, who will officially open the Forum, will also preside over the gala dinner to be held at Málaga city’s Automobile Museum housed in the historic Tabacalera building.

Organised by the United States-Spain Council and the Fundación Consejo España-Estados Unidos, the annual Forum is held alternately in Spain and the US, with the first edition celebrated in Sevilla in 1995, and last year’s in Santa Barbara, California.

In addition to board members of both Councils, some 130 prominent politicians, cultural figures and company directors from both sides of the pond will be attending the event which will be co-hosted by US Senator for Virginia, Tim Kaine, and Juan María Nin, Vice President and CEO of Spain’s Caixa Bank.

Items for discussion on this year’s Forum agenda include the new challenges associated with international security, the analysis of developments in free trade agreements between the EU and the US in order to identify new opportunities for bilateral trade, the expansion and impact of non-conventional hydrocarbons, and the current state of trilateral relations between Spain, the US and Latin America.

Delegates and their companions will also have the opportunity to take part in a programme of side-trips to some of the Costa del Sol’s principal tourist attractions, with excursions to Málaga, Ronda and Puerto Banús scheduled.

Elías Bendodo, President of the Provincial Deputation of Málaga, points out that the fact that the Spain-United States Forum is being held on the Costa del Sol will be a major boost for the destination in the North American market. “There is enormous potential for growth, given that currently only 18 per cent of trips taken by US citizens are to Europe, when in the 1970s and early 1980s, more than 500,000 North Americans used to visit the Costa del Sol every year,” he said.

The King and Queen of Spain with their daughters, Princess Leonor and Princess Sofia

Although it’s the first time Felipe will visit the Costa del Sol since becoming Spain’s Head of State on 19 June 2014, he’s no stranger to Málaga having been to the city on six previous occasions, five of them official, and three of them in the company of his wife.