The Queen presides over the replacement of the flag of the 11th Engineer Regiment

Queen Letizia was the guest of honour in the flag replacement ceremony of the 11th Engineering Specialties Regiment, which took place at the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca on 13 June.

Her Majesty expressed her gratitude for the honour of sharing “such a special occasion” with the unit, which this year is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of its arrival to the town. Furthermore, she highlighted the generosity of the Town Council and the Provincial Council, which donated the new flag, and the affection Salamancans have always shown the Regiment – that day, by packing the Plaza to witness the ceremony.

In her speech, the Queen also referred to the latest foreign operations the Regiment has been involved in, with a special mention to the troops currently deployed in Iraq.

During the ceremony the Queen was accompanied by the Chief of the Army Staff, Army General Jaime Domínguez Buj, and other military and civilian dignitaries – prominent among them the president of the Regional Government of Castilla y León, Juan Vicente Herrera, and the mayor of Salamanca, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco. The troops in formation included soldiers from the 11th Engineer Regiment as well as two sections from the Air Force and the Civil Guard, respectively.

The high point of the ceremony was the farewell to the old Flag and the delivery of the new one, which Doña Letizia kissed, as protocol dictates, before she handed it over to the commander of the 11th Engineering Specialties Regiment, Coronel Antonio Villalba. From that moment and until the end of the ceremony both flags flew over the troops.

The ceremony concluded with a tribute to those who have given their lives for Spain, a performance of the Engineers hymn and a parade of the troops.

The Queen hands over the flag to the commander of the unit (Photo: José M. Seguela/DECET)