Princess Leonor’s 21st birthday fell on Saturday, 31 October, the third and final day of national mourning following the railway tragedy near Urda, in Toledo province. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the nationwide mourning on 28 October. It ran from midnight on 29 October until midnight on 31 October under Royal Decree 949/2026. Flags were ordered to fly at half-mast at public buildings and Spanish diplomatic missions, as well as on naval vessels. Pedro Jota Fernández, speaking on Televisión Española’s D Corazón, said the reported plans were for a family meal rather than a large celebration.
Fernández said Leonor’s parents and sister were expected to attend, along with her maternal grandmother, Paloma Rocasolano. He told presenter Carlota Corredera that Rocasolano was the grandmother who usually joined such family meals. The account described plans for the day; it did not confirm that the meal took place. The national mourning followed a collision involving two high-speed trains near Urda. Reports on 29 October put the death toll at at least 69, with more than 100 people injured. Rescue teams were still searching the wreckage, and casualty figures continued to be updated. Sánchez pledged a full investigation into the cause of the crash.
The birthday came after three years of military training. Leonor served with the Army in Zaragoza and the Navy in Marín, Pontevedra, spending six months aboard the training ship Juan Sebastián Elcano. Her training also took her to the General Air Academy in San Javier, Murcia.
She began a four-year Political Science degree at the Faculty of Legal Sciences at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, UC3M, on 7 September. Her campus is in Getafe, Madrid. The university course follows her military education and continues the institutional role that has become more prominent in recent years.
RUSSPAIN.COM has also covered a separate rail disaster in its report on the Toledo train crash. The earlier report concerned Fátima Báñez, who died in the crash while travelling to Seville.
