Christmas is a time to share with family, and everyone has their own customs and traditions.
Spain’s royal family also celebrates this holiday with excitement and emotion, especially this year as they are reunited after several months apart.
Princess Leonor has been at the Military Academy in Zaragoza since August, and Infanta Sofia went to Wales to study at the UWC Atlantic College, the same school where her older sister graduated in May.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will therefore be very special for King Felipe, Queen Letizia and their daughters.
Christmas dinner for the King and Queen of Spain
Food is an important aspect for Queen Letizia, which is why she is in charge of reviewing the Christmas Eve menu, which includes some of her favorite dishes.
Starters will include juniper smoked salmon toast, Iberian ham, foie gras, elvers and seafood pudding, according to Vanitatis magazine.
King Felipe, Queen Letizia, Infanta Sofía and Princess Leonor then enjoy a rich almond soup.
For the main course, they choose the stuffed turkey, which they share themselves, leaving the evening free for the servants to be with their families.
For dessert, there are Christmas sweets, fruit and coffee ice cream. After dinner, the King and Queen and their daughters, together with Queen Letizia’s mother, open the presents around the Christmas tree.
They also watch the King’s message to all Spaniards on television. Before dinner, they visited Queen Sofia and her sister, Princess Irene of Greece, who live in the residential area of the palace, to wish them a happy Christmas Eve.