King Felipe VI takes the controls of the Navy’s most advanced helicopter at the Rota base

King Felipe VI piloted the Spanish Navy’s most modern helicopter, the NH-90 , on Tuesday during his visit to the 
Rota Naval Base (Cádiz). The day was also marked by the international context, with open tensions between the government of Pedro Sánchez and the administration of Donald Trump over the use of Spanish military bases in connection with the Iran-Contra affair.

The head of state arrived at the Cádiz base and was received with military honors at the Navy’s Air Wing. There, he toured an exhibition of equipment from the unit’s squadrons and participated in a safety briefing before taking a familiarization flight aboard the NH-90.

DEMONSTRATIONS AND TRAINING IN ROTA

After completing the flight, Felipe VI traveled to the Navy Survival Center (Cesupar), where he witnessed a demonstration of naval rescue in adverse conditions of the crew of an aircraft that had fallen into the water.

Cesupar is considered one of the most advanced centers for aeronautical survival training. It is a facility specializing in maritime emergencies and air accidents, equipped to recreate critical situations involving crashed aircraft.

Subsequently, King Felipe visited the Internal Security Training Center (CASI), a facility dedicated to training in firefighting on ships and units deployed at the Rota Naval Base.

INTERNATIONAL TENSION AND A MESSAGE TO TRUMP

The King’s visit coincided with a new episode of tension between the Spanish government and the US administration over the Iran-Contra conflict. These disagreements led Pedro Sánchez’s government to prohibit the United States from using the Morón and Rota air bases for operations related to that conflict.

During the visit, King Felipe VI was accompanied by Defense Minister Margarita Robles , who recently asserted that ” Spain is one of the main contributors to NATO missions at this time.” However, according to an internal Pentagon email published last Friday by Reuters, the United States is considering possible reprisals against NATO allies that, in its view, did not support its operations in Iran, including the suspension of Spain from the Alliance.

In this context, last Saturday there was an attempted attack against Donald Trump in Washington, which forced the evacuation of the US president during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel.

Following the incident, Pedro Sánchez posted a message on social media condemning what had happened: “Violence is never the answer. Humanity will only advance through democracy, coexistence, and peace.”

On Tuesday, the Royal Household confirmed that King Felipe VI sent a telegram to Donald Trump following the attempted attack. In 2014, after the attack in which the then former president and candidate was injured in the ear, the King and Queen had already sent a letter expressing their shock at the “terrible attack” that occurred during a campaign event in Pennsylvania.

In that message, released by the Royal Household, King Felipe VI conveyed to Trump his “solidarity and relief” upon learning that the injuries were not serious. Furthermore, the monarch expressed his “strongest condemnation of any act of violence, especially when it is directed against democratic values.”