Felipe's full agenda in New York

King Felipe of Spain addresses the UN General Assembly in New York

(photo casareal Twitter)

This year has been up and down for King Felipe VI of Spain and while his country's politicians remain in turmoil over who will form the next government, the royal agenda has thinned out. Overseas trips have been cancelled, meetings have been postponed and engagements have been put on hold while political talks take precedence. But this week, Felipe and Letizia are in New York for the UN General Assembly and the King of Spain seems set on making the most of every minute he is there.

El Rey saluda al presidente de EEUU, Barack Obama, antes del almuerzo ofrecido por el secretario general de @ONU_es https://t.co/FCtu5JlmAz pic.twitter.com/0z6Y99vAJ3

— Casa de S.M. el Rey (@CasaReal) September 20, 2016

King Felipe doesn't seem to have stopped since the moment he touched down in the Big Apple on Monday.  That first day saw him meet the President of Portugal, the Emir of Qatar, the President of Columbia and the heir to the throne of Saudi Arabia as well as attend the meetings around the General Assembly and meet Spanish representatives working at the United Nations. Day two saw him cross paths with US President Barack Obama.

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The two men have met many times before and they looked on friendly terms as they shook hands ahead of a lunch given by Ban Ki-Moon on Tuesday.  The King of Spain had already met the Secretary General of the United Nations as his morning kept up the same non stop pattern of the day before.

Almuerzo ofrecido en la @ONU_es por el secretario general de Naciones Unidas, Ban Ki Moon https://t.co/FCtu5JlmAz pic.twitter.com/wKhTK51ACE

— Casa de S.M. el Rey (@CasaReal) September 20, 2016

Already done and dusted by lunch were meetings with King Abdullah II of Jordan, the President of Peru, the President of Senegal and the President of the International Olympic Committee and he slipped in a chat with the Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Renzi, before the afternoon got fully under way.

Reunión del Rey con el secretario general de Naciones Unidas, Ban Ki Moon @ONU_es https://t.co/FCtu5JlmAz pic.twitter.com/8NESr3cV4q

— Casa de S.M. el Rey (@CasaReal) September 20, 2016

The latter part of his day saw King Felipe VI of Spain address the General Assembly of the United Nations where he said that all democracies encounter complex times but that they overcome them through strength.

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But Felipe wasn't done yet. He moved on to the meeting of leaders being held in New York to discuss the refugee crisis where he spoke about Spain being an historic meeting point for people fleeing their own countries because of violence and said that the focus of attempts to deal with the current refugee crisis must be the people who are affected by it.

Queen Letizia of Spain listens to her husband speak at the UN General Assembly (photo casareal Twitter)

Queen Letizia watched his speech to the General Assembly - earlier in the day she had met the Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation of which she is an ambassador.

Queen Letizia of Spain at meeting with the Director General of the FAO in New York (photo casareal Twitter)

Felipe and Letizia ended their visit to New York by attending a reception given by the US President and First Lady, Barack and Michelle Obama. They head home now to a quieter agenda as the politicians continue to sort out the administrative stalemate that affects Spain right now. But there's no doubt that Felipe has put in a week's work in two days as he completed a full agenda in New York.