On the 80th anniversary of Mauthausen‘s liberation, various world leaders—including, for the first time, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain—have attended the international remembrance ceremony, which has taken place on May 11th. Accompanied by other high-ranking authorities and members of the Spanish government, like the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda, Pablo Bustinduy Amador, the King and Queen joined over 20,000 attendees to honour the thousands of Spanish victims of Mauthausen and the nearby Gusen camp.
While this is not the first time that Felipe VI pays tribute to the plight of the more than 7,000 Republicans who were deported to this concentration camp in between 1940 and 1945, the photographs from today’s remembrance ceremony are truly powerful. The King and Queen led the parade of the Spanish delegation escorted by lots of flags, including the flag of the Second Spanish Republic.
The remembrance ceremony, which marks the liberation by the US Army of Mauthausen on 5 May 1945, was also special because of Queen’s Letizia subtle, but evocative tribute to Spaniards deported to Nazi camps: during the solemn ceremony, she has held a blue handkerchief, which had an “S” for “Spanier” embroidered in the middle; at the end, when taking part in the wreath-laying ceremony, she laid the triangle on the ground.
Showing the extent to which she has become “fluent in language of clothing and accessories”, Queen Letizia has used the blue-coded badge for Spanish camp inmates as a soft power tool (Pérez 2024). Leaving aside her use of clothing to fulfill her institutional task, another heartfelt moment came when King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia went on to talk with some of the victims’ relatives. This conversation has been positively felt by most of the attendees, who showed gratitude. The granddaughter of one of the victims has stated: “This gesture calms the pain we have a little bit” (MAEUEC 2025).
References:
Pérez, Jorge. 2024. “Queen Letizia’s Royal Fashion and Celebrity: From Curse to Asset”. Hispanic Studies and Research on Spain, Portugal and Latin America 101: 751-774. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14753820.2024.2336431#abstract
Related news
Nierga Llandrich, Oriol. 2025. “Campaña para jóvenes para conmemorar los 80 años de la liberación de los campos nazis”. Oficina del Parlamento Europeo en Barcelona. Available at: https://barcelona.europarl.europa.eu/es/news/80-anniversary-liberation-concentration-camps
RTVE. 2025. “Los reyes rinden homenaje a los españoles de Mauthausen en el 80 aniversario de la liberación del campo”. Available at: https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20250511/reyes-homenaje-espanoles-campo-mauthausen-80-aniversario/16575198.shtml
