I fondly remember that as a young man I loved attending this event. I was going there equipped with my analogue camera and was making complete reports that, once the photos were revealed, I kept in their corresponding albums.
Unfortunately, due to the day and time of the event, which are incompatible with my work obligations, it had been many years since I had the opportunity to attend it.
But yesterday I had a holiday, was able to attend the event with great enthusiasm and want to share it with you now.
By way of introduction, I will briefly review the main stages of the event.
First of all, the Colonel Commander of the Royal Guard together with his General Staff on horseback go to the main gate of the Palace (Puerta del Príncipe = Prince’s Gate) to receive the Pioneers Squad, Music Band and incoming Guard (comprising an Infantry Company, Band of Bugles and Timpani on horseback, Lancers or Cuirassiers and a detachment of the Royal Battery), all coming from the lower side esplanade of the building.
Then the Colonel, his Staff, the Pioneers and the Music Band parade down the street heading to the open inner courtyard of the Palace (Plaza de la Armería), where the changing between the incoming and outgoing guards will take place. The incoming Guard stays in front of the Palace waiting for the previous ones to arrive at the Plaza de la Armería.
Before the changing of the Guard itself takes place, an acrobatic rifle skills exhibition is held in the Plaza de la Armería by an Infantry Section of the Royal Guard.
Finally, after a while, the incoming Guard also goes to the Plaza de la Armería to participate in the changing.
Once the changing has been made, the outgoing Guard leaves the Plaza de la Armería and parades along the same previous path of the incoming Guard, heading for the lower side esplanade of the Palace. The Colonel Commander together with his Staff close the parade.
As a conclusion to the entire event, the Royal Guard Music Band offers a small concert for all attendees with various Spanish and foreign musical pieces (for example, yesterday they played the famous Stars and Stripes forever from John Philip Sousa, among other).
Hundreds or thousands of people gather to attend this act, both from Madrid and visitors from other parts of Spain and abroad. This is the reason why, when I arrived yesterday at the square in front of the Palace, a large crowd had already gathered waiting for the start of the event.
This prevented me from entering the Plaza de la Armería to see the changing of the guard itself and even get good images of the acts carried out in front of the main façade of the Palace, since in front of me there were many people doing the same.
My work materials were my old Sony digital camera and my obsolete Huawei mobile, to which is added that the weather was very cloudy, so the images obtained are not as good as I would have liked. In any case, here I put them at your disposal.
After so much text, let's go now with the photographic report.
The Colonel and his Staff waiting for the Pioneers Squad, Music Band, acrobatic rifle skills Infantry Section, Cuirassiers and Royal Battery detachment, and all of them headig towards the Plaza de la Armería to meet the outgoing Guard:
The incoming Guard infantry and cavalry going to their positions and waiting in front of the Palace:
The Comandante (Major) who will lead the incoming Guard going to review it, along with a Bugler and an assistant:
The Comandante and the Bugler join the formation and everyone waits to go to the Plaza de la Armería:
The Pioneers Squad and the Music Band leave the Palace through the main gate, coming from the Plaza de la Armería, to join the incoming Guard and all together will then parade to there:
The members of the Royal Guard Music Band taking their positions for the concert:
Once the event concluded, the participating units joined their transports to return to their quarters:
Finally, two videos (sorry for their poor sound and image quality, they were filmed with my obsolete Huawei mobile), the first with the outgoing Guard parade and the second with the beginning of the concert of the Royal Guard Music Band (You can find many more videos and much better quality than mine on YouTube):
I hope you have found it of interest. Thank you so much for your attention. Best regards.
Santi.
Moderator
