Felipe VI Decorates Eusebio Leal with the Grand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III

November 14, 2019

In the Hall of Mirrors of the Museum of the City, King Felipe VI decorated Doctor Eusebio Leal Spengler with the Grand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Carlos III.

Upon receiving the highest civil distinction granted in Spain, the Historian of the City expressed:
"Years ago I learned that from a certain moment in life, all honor and all glory belongs to the Homeland. It is a concept that today, perhaps on many occasions, appears to be lost among others. The concept of country is the territory; the concept of nation is the aspiration to a state of law; and the concept of Homeland is much broader, it encompasses the heart and moral values."

During his remarks, Doctor Eusebio Leal made reference to historical events of great significance for both nations.

"In this hall extraordinary events occurred in the common history of Spain in America and particularly of Cuba. On January 1, 1899, exactly in the position where you are standing, the last Spanish ruler on Cuban soil, General Adolfo Jiménez Castellanos exclaimed: 'Sir, in compliance with the Treaty of Paris and the orders of my King, the sovereignty of Spain in the island of Cuba ceases to exist today, the first of January, and that of the United States begins.' Not far from here, a few leagues from Havana — Leal continued — the Major General of Cuba's Liberating Army wrote: 'Sadly they have departed, and sadly we have remained because a foreign power has replaced you. I dreamed of bidding farewell with respect to the brave Spanish soldiers with whom we always fought face to face on the battlefields.'"

The history of Cuba and Spain did not end with the Republic; it has endured over time based on mutual respect until our days. Regarding those bonds that unite both nations, Leal assured:
"Our homeland has nothing that has not been marked as children of Spaniards that we are, as grandson of a Spaniard that Antonio Maceo was, as son of a Spanish man and woman as José Martí was. We have nothing nor has anything been granted to us that was not achieved with enormous sacrifice. In this history Spain always, in one way or another, accompanies us and, to a certain extent, that battle we lost we have continued, fighting for the dignity of a people that speaks Spanish, that feels the ballad and verse as its own, that loves literature and art, and that is proud of its Galician, Basque, Catalan, Canarian fathers of plain speech. People of the sea or the land who came one day to Cuba, formed families, are in our cemeteries, rest in such a way still, that there is not a single Cuban home, white or black, mulatto or mixed race, where a Spanish father does not appear ruling the table or from the tomb," Leal concluded.

The visit of the King of Spain Felipe VI and Queen Letizia Ortiz to the Havana Historic Center culminated in the vicinity of Plaza de Armas to continue the intense day of activities that comprises the first visit to Cuba of the current Spanish crown, carried out on the occasion of the 500th anniversary celebrations of Havana.