One more year, King Felipe and Queen Letizia have sent out their Christmas greeting. The image they chose to share their best wishes for the season couldn’t be more meaningful. It shows a unique moment of the royal couple with their daughters during their visit on October 25 to the Asturian town of Valdesoto, named Exemplary Town 2025, an honor that highlights the value of small communities, the richness of their farming regions, and the beauty of their natural landscapes.
“Merry Christmas and a happy New Year 2026” appears on the back of the card in a very symbolic typeface, Ibarra Real Nova, originally designed in the eighteenth century and used in the 1780 edition of Don Quixote prepared for the Royal Spanish Academy. This choice was no coincidence. It was chosen to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the first part of Miguel de Cervantes' book in the 21st century. Bringing back and creating the digital version of this typeface is a beautiful tribute that highlights Spain’s typographic heritage.
On the right side of the card are the signatures of Their Majesties, the King and Queen, and Their Royal Highnesses, the Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofía, next to the handwritten message, “With all our affection and best wishes’. The greeting card is completed on the outside with the coat of arms and the motto, "Service, commitment, and duty."
Last year, the King and Queen and their daughters chose a more formal image for their Christmas greeting and kept the victims of the DANA very much in mind with these lines by the poet Francisco Brines: “And I search for a face that reflects light, someone like me who, having only death, may also have, as I once had in overcoming it, life.”
This time, King Felipe and Queen Letizia chose a more relaxed moment, posing alongside Princess Leonor, 20, and Infanta Sofía, 18. In the foreground, the Queen and Leonor are seated, smiling. Behind them, the King gently embraces Sofía while standing. The photo shows a happy, close family: parents proud of their daughters as they begin to make their own way, and daughters who, even as they grow and gain independence, still find in their parents a warm and steady place to land.
The release of this photo comes 13 days before December 25 and after the major tribute to Queen Sofía held on November 21 at the Royal Palace. That day, Queen Sofía received the highest distinction of the monarchy, the Order of the Golden Fleece, from her son King Felipe VI, under the deeply loving gaze of her daughter-in-law Queen Letizia and her granddaughters Leonor and Sofía.
At the same time that Felipe and Letizia’s Christmas card was released, the Royal Household shared the card from Juan Carlos and Sofía, a striking image showing their five little dogs posing next to a Christmas tree.