This week, Queen Sofia’s schedule is focused on Miami. On March 20, she will travel to the United States for a three-day institutional visit that will last until the 23rd. The central theme of all the events will be the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute, an organization of which she is the honorary president.
This is not a mere protocol visit; there is real substance behind it, and the three days are put to good use.
What Queen Sofía will do during her visit to the United States
Her first event will be to preside over the academic program “Florida, Cuba, and the Caribbean in the American Revolution,” which is being organized in collaboration with the Consulate General of Spain in Miami, Miami Dade College, Florida International University, and other local institutions.
The event is part of America&Spain250, a multi-year initiative to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States and to highlight Spain’s role in that historical process.
Specialist historians will take part, and this will be the first time that the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute has brought this initiative to Florida, a region with deep historical ties to Spain, Cuba, and the Caribbean.
The Sophia Awards for Excellence
On the second day, Queen Sofía will travel to the Pérez Art Museum Miami to preside over the presentation of the Sophia Awards for Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute.
The list of past winners, including Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger, Plácido Domingo, and Carolina Herrera, among others, gives an idea of the significance of this award.
On the third and final day, the visit will conclude with the signing of an agreement between the QSSI and the International Studies Foundation, a Spanish non-profit organization dedicated to creating educational opportunities for young people at risk of social exclusion.
This trip comes just a few weeks after one of the most difficult times that Sofía has experienced in recent years. On January 15, her sister, Princess Irene of Greece, passed away at the Zarzuela Palace at the age of 83.