Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía tour the Greco-Roman ruins of Empúries on second day of Girona awards visit

Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía spent the morning of Wednesday 15 July at the Empúries archaeological complex on the Girona coast, the most important Greco-Roman site on the Iberian Peninsula and the only one where a Greek colonial city (Emporion, founded in the 6th century BC) and a Roman city (Emporiae, built in the 1st century BC) stand side by side. The visit forms part of the 2026 Princess of Girona Awards programme, whose gala ceremony took place the previous evening at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu.

A walk through ten centuries of history

The sisters arrived at the site around 12:15, accompanied by Mònica Borrell, director of the Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya (MAC) Empúries, and technical director Marta Santos. The archaeologist Joaquim Tremoleda guided them through the remains. They paused at a replica of the statue of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, positioned at the southern wall, and walked the main street of the Roman city, where a 1st-century BC fish-salting factory still shows the basins used for gutting and macerating the catch. The tour also took in the Greek agora and the reconstructed section of the stoa that closes the square to the north.

Young archaeologists and summer excavations

Before entering the site museum, Leonor and Sofía watched students on the summer archaeology course excavating dwellings from the 5th century BC in the northern sector of the Greek nucleus. The course has run every summer for 80 years. The students showed them a recently unearthed vessel and other finds still awaiting cataloguing. After the explanations, the princesses posed for a photograph with part of the team; four archaeologists chose not to join the picture, a moment that drew a brief look of surprise and a rueful expression from the Princess.

Style notes under the Mediterranean sun

With high temperatures and humidity, both opted for lightweight outfits. Leonor wore high-waisted white trousers, a matching camisole top, and a raspberry-coloured structured linen blazer by Bleis Madrid, paired with a burgundy pouch bag from the Galician artisan label Heimat Atlántica. She pulled her hair back in a small braid and wore prominent gold earrings. Sofía chose a white crossover top with a geometric waist tie (first worn a year ago at the Naval Academy in Marín) and mint-green culotte trousers (first seen on 24 July 2025 during the previous year's Princess of Girona activities). Both wore flat espadrilles in a natural tone.

Joining the King and Queen

At 13:25, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia joined their daughters at the site. The four then attended a working meeting of the Young Advisory Council (Consejo Asesor Joven) of the Princess of Girona Foundation, a body of around twenty young people linked to the entity. The council presented conclusions on the four thematic axes it has worked on over the past year. Three of this year's six award winners, Gemma Blasco, Hatim Azahri and Patricia Aymà, also took part in the day's activities alongside young participants from foundation programmes in Girona, Barcelona and Lleida.