Smiles, cheers, royal joy

IT was another perfect day for heir to the throne Prince Felipe and and Doña Letizia Ortiz in Majorca yesterday as they continued their official tour of the island, visiting the local parliament in Palma, the Santo Domingo Cloisters in Inca, a potato co-operative in Sa Pobla and then the Hotel Formentor for lunch. Yesterday, afternoon they visited the local university before holding a dinner at the Almudaina Palace in Palma. Everywhere the royal couple went, thousands of people were awaiting their arrival. There were shouts of congratulations, following the announcement that Doña Letizia is pregnant, and Viva los Principes, which simply translated means Hurray for the Princes. The potato co-operative may not been one of the biggest agricultural businesses in Majorca but it is certainly forward looking. The majority of its potatoes are exported to Britain and the Spanish Princes showed plenty of interest in the whole process. At the Hotel Formentor the heir to the throne and Doña Letizia held young business leaders and students. They brought the royal couple up to speed on some of the problems which affect young people in the Balearics at the moment. Continuing with the youth theme, Prince Felipe headed for the local university where he was given a tour of the campus and met student leaders. Doña Letizia returned to Marivent. Probably the image of the day was Doña Letizia meeting local school children. The Mayor of Mayor, Catalina Cirer, certainly provided an appropriate, for the royal couple, a set of baby clothes. Hundreds of journalists and photographers are covering the event from across the globe. The ultimate photograph for them, they say, would be Doña Letizia, shopping for baby's clothes. Today, the royal couple head for Minorca and tomorrow they will be in Ibiza before returning to Palma on Friday for a farewell reception at La Lonja in Palma. The welcome in the Balearics so far, has been exceptionally warm, and there have been no real incidents apart from a small demonstrations by Republicans in the Plaza Cort on Monday. An additional 200 police officers have been drafted to the island to provide security. They include specialists marksmen and explosives experts.