The Spanish National Day parade and the PC-21s that could not fly in Madrid

The traditional military parade held in Madrid every October 12 was marked today by heavy rain.

Press kit for the 2024 National Day parade in Madrid
The military parade on the National Day of Spain: two videos and a series of images

This year, H.M. King Felipe VI, who always presides over this parade, was accompanied by H.R.H. the Princess of Asturias, Leonor, who wore the dress uniform of a Midshipman of the Military Naval School, the officers' academy of the Spanish Navy, where she is currently undergoing her military training.

Weather conditions led to the suspension of two events of this military celebration: the air parade and the parachute jump by the Air Force Acrobatic Parachute Patrol (PAPEA).

In addition, the ground parade left some very striking images, such as the soldiers marching through a large puddle of water at the beginning of the foot parade, due to the heavy rain. Above these lines we can see the soldiers of the Infantry Regiment "Inmemorial del Rey" No. 1 of the Spanish Army, with their historical uniforms. Below these lines we can see the Squadron of Gastadores and the Battalion of Students of the General Military Academy (AGM) of Zaragoza.

This morning, Fly By Wire Aviation published a video showing up close the six Pilatus PC-21s that were to take part in the air parade, training aircraft used by the San Javier Air Academy for flight training of its students:

The Ministry of Defense has published a video of some moments prior to the parade that were not seen on television, in which we see the traditional songs of the different military units, livening up the atmosphere despite the rain:

If you missed the parade, here you can watch the full broadcast of the parade broadcast by TVE:

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Photos: Ejército de Tierra / Ministerio de Defensa.