The absent queen, Barça always present. The story repeats itself almost every year. Barça win the Queen's Cup, and the Queen... is conspicuously absent.
The culé footballers have already gotten used to it. The protocol works like this: when it's the King's Cup, Felipe VI never misses it. When it's the Queen's Cup, Letizia almost never shows up.
In 2019, the Queen was there. That year, in Granada, she handed the trophy to Real Sociedad after they defeated Atlético de Madrid.
In 2024, she appeared again: it was at La Romareda, where Barça beat Real Sociedad 8-0 (8-0). But little else.
A detail that doesn't go unnoticed
What stands out most among the culé footballers isn't just the absence, but the contrast.
It's the same queen who doesn't travel to Huesca for a Queen's Cup final. It's the one who does show up at the Olympic Games in Paris or at a World Cup in Australia or a European Championship in Switzerland.
Curiously, she applauds the same footballers she ignores in club soccer. Her support for women's sports seems selective.
"Queen Letizia doesn't hand out the Queen's Cup," many lament. The fact speaks for itself: She has only been present at two finals. Meanwhile, Barça have kept winning titles year after year... without institutional presence.
With another jersey, yes, there's interest
The message the footballers receive is clear. If they wear the blaugrana, the event doesn't seem so important, even if it's called the Queen's Cup.
If they put on the national team jersey, then yes. The truth is that the core of the women's national team has, for years, clearly been culé.
In yesterday's European Championship final, up to eleven footballers with a past or present at Barça were on the field at the same time. Barça DNA.
The same ones who later represent Spain in Europe and around the world. There, the Queen never misses it.
Internal discomfort and external silence
The footballers haven't said it publicly. In the locker room, the comment is common. "Does she have time for this but not for the Cup that bears her name?" they quietly ask.
It's not just about institutional respect, but about coherence.
The detail hasn't gone unnoticed by anyone. While Queen Letizia attended the women's European Championship final with her daughters, no one from the royal circle showed up in Huesca. Neither the Queen nor Princess Leonor nor Infanta Sofía.
Women's soccer demands respect
Every Queen's Cup final without the Queen is a missed opportunity. Because it's not just about lifting a trophy, but about making visible an achievement that didn't fill stadiums before... and now does.
The footballers have done their part. It's up to others to respond with their presence.