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From 22 to 25 April 1986, King Juan Carlos I of Spain made a state visit to the United Kingdom, where he was received by Queen Elizabeth II. It was the first official state visit by Spain to the United Kingdom since 1905, and came during a thaw in relations between the two countries over the issue of Gibraltar.

Background
The visit came as part of the normalisation of relations between Spain and the United Kingdom, following the Brussels Agreement of 1984 on the status of Gibraltar. The Spanish royal couple had refused to attend the Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 as the honeymoon was in Gibraltar.

It was the first official visit by a Spanish monarch to the United Kingdom since 1905, when King Alfonso XIII, grandfather of Juan Carlos I, was invited by King Edward VII. Several personal visits had been made before the 1986 state visit: the king and queen of Spain came to London at the invitation of Lord Mountbatten in 1978 for lunch with the British queen, and in 1984 Juan Carlos came to Britain to hunt with the Earl of Strathmore, a nephew of the queen. The visit was announced in July 1985.

According to Spanish broadsheet El País, "the visit means, in the opinion of political analysts in the British capital, a milestone in the history of both countries and can be considered the most significant of those made in Europe by Juan Carlos in his nearly 11 years of reign".

Events
The state visit began one day after Elizabeth II's 60th birthday. Security was at a high level due to the threat of reprisals from the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; American planes based in Britain had recently attacked the North African country. The Spanish royal couple were met at Heathrow Airport by Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

On 23 April, Juan Carlos I became the first foreign monarch to speak to the British parliament in the Palace of Westminster. He gave his speech in English and called for peaceful resolution of the question of Gibraltar. He received an ovation of Viva España and Viva el Rey, led by the speaker, George Thomas. He then met prime minister Margaret Thatcher at 10 Downing Street.

Juan Carlos I was made doctor honoris causa in civil law by the University of Oxford on 24 April. That night, a dinner was held at the Embassy of Spain, London, with surprise guests being his daughters Elena and Cristina, as well as Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, his wife's sister.

Legacy
In October 1988, Elizabeth II made the first official state visit by a British monarch to Spain. No official state visit was made by Spain to the United Kingdom until June 2018, by Juan Carlos I's son and successor Felipe VI.

Biography
Born in Tomelloso in the province of Ciudad Real, Castro is married and has three children. He was elected to Getafe City Council in the first democratic local elections in 1979, becoming deputy mayor to Juan Prieto de la Fuente, and the councillor responsible for youth.

Castro was elected mayor in 1983, and served seven terms before being defeated by Juan Soler-Espiauba of the People's Party (PP) in 2011. He went on hunger strike to persuade prime minister of Spain Felipe González to build a hospital in Getafe, and in his final years achieved the construction of 10,000 homes, despite the Great Recession. He was known for his use of technology and communications: he had a radio call-in show for over 20 years and was an early user of Twitter, as well as writing a blog.

In 2002, Castro persuaded his former trade union colleague and local construction and nightlife businessman Ángel Torres to purchase the bankrupt football club Getafe CF. Within two years, the team was in La Liga for the first time, where they remained a mainstay.

In August 2006, Castro requested that Getafe be the capital of the Community of Madrid instead of the city of Madrid, as Madrid is already the national capital. He likened the proposal to Santiago de Compostela and Mérida, the respective capitals of Galicia and Extremadura despite not being the largest cities. He mentioned the Charles III University of Madrid, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Getafe, the La Liga football team Getafe CF and the importance of the local aeronautics industry as reasons for the move. Raúl Callé, mayor of nearby Leganés, ridiculed the proposal by suggesting that Castro apply for the capital of Pluto.

In 2007, Castro was elected president of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) as the PSOE candidate with 15,997 votes, while the PP candidate Regina Otaola received 11,310. In December 2008, he publicly asked in a municipal meeting "why are there so many stupid people who still vote for the right?" The PP threatened to leave FEMP if Castro did not resign. In April 2009, the PP group in the Senate of Spain walked out of a parliamentary appearance by Castro.