Spain’s current and former prime ministers dine with King Juan Carlos

Spain’s former monarch, Juan Carlos I, was the rallying figure for an unusual gathering of all of Spain’s surviving prime ministers, past and present.

On Wednesday night, current PM Mariano Rajoy of the Popular Party (PP) and former leaders José María Aznar (PP), José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Felipe González, both Socialists, met at a popular Madrid restaurant to observe the first anniversary of Juan Carlos’ abdication in favor of his son Felipe VI.

The dinner was at Casa Lucio, a popular destination for national and visiting statesmen in Madrid

The dinner party was held at Casa Lucio, a popular destination for national and visiting statesmen located in the historical area of town known as Madrid de los Austrias, named after the Hapsburg dynasty.

On June 24, Rajoy and the three former government leaders also coincided at a ceremony to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Spain’s membership in the European Union.

Speaking to radio network Cadena SER on Thursday, the owner of Casa Lucio, Lucio Blázquez, told presenter Gemma Nierga the details of the dinner, venturing that it was “a unique occurrence in history” for four prime ministers to dine with a king.

The reservation, Blázquez explained, had been made the very same day of the dinner, and the party enjoyed their meal “just as if they were normal customers.”

And, just like any other group of normal customers, there was the traditional battle to pay the bill at the end of the meal. It was Rajoy, said Blázquez, who won the fight. “This is mine,” Rajoy is reported to have said.

News of the meeting did not leak to the press until the Moncloa prime ministerial palace released a photo of the encounter on Wednesday night. And, as happened earlier in the week when Rajoy’s team tweeted photos of him lunching with French ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy, the internet was soon awash with photoshopped versions of their encounter.

“Bachelor party in Casa Lucio with JC, Mariano, Aznar, Zapatero and González.”