Princess Leonor reached the third major milestone of her military career at the General Air Academy in San Javier, bringing to a close a demanding year of flight training and military instruction.
King Felipe VI presented his daughter with the Grand Cross of Aeronautical Merit with White Distinction, the same decoration he received in 1988 after completing his own training at the Air Force pilot school while still Prince of Asturias.
Thirty-eight years later, the moment carried strong personal and historical significance, with the King presenting his daughter with the same honour beneath the Murcian skies where he had once trained.
The ceremony formed part of the presentation of Royal Commissions as lieutenants to fifth-year cadets from the Academy’s 77th graduating class.
Princess Leonor, however, has completed her training alongside fourth-year students from the 78th graduating class. She will therefore return to the parade ground next summer to receive her own officer’s commission.
The ceremony will bring Princess Leonor’s year in San Javier to an end and complete the three-year military training programme that began at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza.
She then continued her preparation at the Naval Military Academy in Marín, including a voyage aboard the Spanish Navy training ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano, before beginning her final stage with the Air and Space Force in Murcia.
A year in the air
The defining feature of Princess Leonor’s time at San Javier has been her flight training.
On December 18, 2025, she completed her first solo flight in a Pilatus PC-21, the advanced training aircraft used to prepare Spain’s future military pilots.
The achievement followed months of theoretical study, simulator sessions and training flights alongside instructors. Her first solo sortie was celebrated with her fellow cadets and marked her formal progression as a military aviator.
She completed a second solo flight in 2026 and later took part in an unprecedented joint exercise with her father.
The King and the Princess flew side by side over La Manga and the Mar Menor, each piloting a separate Pilatus PC-21.
The flight was particularly symbolic because of King Felipe’s own history at the Academy and Princess Leonor’s growing connection with the Murcia region.
She has previously spoken warmly of the Mar Menor and La Manga, describing them as among her favourite places in the region.
That connection was further strengthened on June 3, when she received the Gold Medal of San Javier, the Gold Medal of the Regional Assembly and the Gold Medal of the Region of Murcia.
Before the joint flight, Captain Elena Gutiérrez helped Princess Leonor explain the aircraft’s systems and capabilities to the King.
Captain Gutiérrez made history in 2020 when she became the first woman in the Spanish Air and Space Force to fly a Eurofighter solo.
Her role in the Princess’s training also highlighted one of the broader themes associated with Leonor’s military education: the growing visibility of women and gender equality within Spain’s Armed Forces.
Parachuting milestone
One of the most demanding achievements of Princess Leonor’s year in Murcia was her completion of the Basic Parachuting Course at the Méndez Parada Military Parachuting School at Alcantarilla Air Base.
During the course, she carried out both daytime and night-time jumps from an aircraft at an altitude of approximately 400 metres.
The qualification made her the first member of the Spanish Royal Family to complete military parachute jumps and earn the title of paratrooper, setting her apart from both her father and grandfather.
Her training also included SERE exercises covering survival, evasion, resistance and escape, as well as sea-survival drills involving helicopter operations.
She visited Wing 14 at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, where she was introduced to Spain’s Eurofighter aircraft, and completed an instructional flight in an F-5 with Wing 23 at Talavera la Real Air Base in Badajoz.
The Princess also became familiar with specialist equipment used by military pilots, including anti-G clothing designed to help aircrew withstand the physical forces experienced during high-performance flight.
A discreet life outside the Academy
Relatively little has emerged about Princess Leonor’s personal life during her time at the Academy.
She took part in the 25th Inter-University Canoeing Championship on the Mar Menor on April 25, competing alongside other students from the General Air Academy.
Away from formal events and training, however, her appearances in the local area have been rare and carefully managed.
On a small number of occasions, she reportedly joined classmates for evenings out at a bar in La Curva, Lo Pagán. Private areas were arranged in advance to protect her privacy and security.
The handling of the Princess’s public image has remained particularly strict throughout her stay in Santiago de la Ribera.
Her father’s own time at the Academy, by contrast, became associated with several well-remembered visits to local establishments.
Princess Leonor now leaves San Javier having completed one of the most physically and technically demanding stages of her preparation as Spain’s future head of state.
Her year at the General Air Academy has included solo flights, parachute jumps, survival training and advanced military aviation instruction, culminating in a decoration that directly connects her service with that of her father nearly four decades earlier.
