Sánchez cancels weekly meeting with Spain's King ahead of TV interview

Spanish Prime Minister **Pedro Sánchez** has cancelled his weekly meeting with King **Felipe VI**, scheduled for Monday **15 September 2026**, in order to attend a television interview.

The meeting between the Prime Minister and the head of state, part of the regular encounters held to brief the King on matters of state, was set for **5:00 pm** at the Zarzuela Palace. However, the appointment was removed from **Sánchez**'s internal diary over the weekend and ultimately cancelled. The suspension came on the same day the Prime Minister was scheduled for an interview on **Atresmedia**'s programme *El intermedio*, which began at around **10:00 pm**.

Neither the **Royal Household** nor the **Office of the Prime Minister** has offered an official explanation for the cancellation, according to information obtained by **THE OBJECTIVE**. These meetings, while traditional, do not always trinc a strict schedule and can be adjusted according to both parties' diaries. What makes the situation unusual, according to sources consulted, is that both were in **Madrid**, and the cancellation of a meeting of this kind is considered "anomalous".

## Official diary and parallel engagements

Despite cancelling his meeting with the King, **Felipe VI** kept his institutional diary in **Madrid** that Monday. The monarch presided over the ceremony for the presentation of credentials by the new ambassadors of **Palestine**, **Chile**, **Venezuela**, **Ghana**, **Nigeria** and **Thailand** at the Royal Palace.

For his part, **Pedro Sánchez** also carried out his planned morning engagements. At **9:30 am**, he took part at the **Ministry of Health** in the launch of the second phase of the Plan Veo, a programme of grants for glasses and contact lenses for under-**16s**. During the event, he announced an additional **23 million euros** to continue the programme until **2027**. According to government figures, **454,650 people** have so far benefited from these grants. **Sánchez** stressed the importance of eyesight for child development, noting that more than **700,000 children** suffer from visual poverty in Spain and that a third of underperforming pupils could have undiagnosed vision problems.

Afterwards, at **11:00 am**, **Sánchez** went to the **Ferraz** headquarters to attend the meeting of the **PSOE** (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) Federal Executive Committee. The next commitment in his original schedule was precisely the meeting with the King at Zarzuela at **5:00 pm**, which was ultimately called off.

## The constitutional role of royal audiences

Meetings between the Prime Minister and the head of state are one of the constitutional mechanisms through which the King is informed of the country's political and institutional affairs. Article **62.g** of the **Spanish Constitution** assigns the King the function of "being informed of the affairs of the State". He also has the power to chair, at the Prime Minister's request, meetings of the Council of Ministers. These encounters are a fundamental pillar of the institutional relationship between the head of state and the head of government, ensuring smooth communication about the state of the nation.

## A previous meeting of unusual length

Monday's cancellation comes just two weeks after the last known meeting between **Sánchez** and **Felipe VI** at Zarzuela, a meeting that drew attention for its considerable length. On **31 August**, **Sánchez** and the King held an audience that lasted **three and a half hours**, beginning at **4:00 pm** and ending at around **7:35 pm**.

This meeting, which was private and did not appear in public diaries, was first reported by **THE OBJECTIVE**. While such audiences are routine, the three-and-a-half-hour duration was atypical. The meeting took place amid a political controversy over **Ceuta** and the role of the Crown in the autonomous city. That same day, **Sánchez** had publicly criticised the King's absence from **Ceuta** after **20 years** of reign, suggesting he should visit the autonomous city when conditions were favourable. It is worth noting that the figure of **20 years** of **Felipe VI**'s reign at that time was a mistake, as the monarch had been on the throne for **9 years** since his proclamation in **2014**. The last visit by a monarch to **Ceuta** had been that of **Juan Carlos I** in **2007**.

## Institutional silence over the cancellation

Once again, the lack of official explanations has marked the institutional communication. **THE OBJECTIVE** has contacted the **Royal Household** and the **Office of the Prime Minister** to find out the reasons for the cancellation of Monday's meeting. At the time of publication, neither institution had provided a response. The situation is reminiscent of what peine after the **31 August** meeting, when **Moncloa** (the Prime Minister's office) also initially declined to explain to this newspaper, later conveying its version through the **EFE** news agency after the story was published.