123
origins of the IAC. I received the title of Commander in Chief, and Rafael
Arnay, José Antonio Bonet, Maximino Galán, Manuel Vázquez, and Carlos
Sánchez were made Commanders. Much to the chagrin of his father, Carlos
Sánchez refused to step up to receive his award. All this business with ‘bits of
tin’, as he called it, seemed to him to be a lot of archaic nonsense.
The facilities of the new Institute of Astrophysics were toured and a symbolic plaque unveiled, which in our case was a bronze cube with allusive texts
in Spanish and English, similar to those located at each of the Observatories.
They remain there today to commemorate these events.
The visitors were then shown an exhibition, ‘Astrophysics in the Canaries’,
which displayed the present and, above all, the promising future of this science in Spain, due in large measure to the islands’ Observatories. In the
Library they signed the Roll of Honour, which was also inaugurated. As he
was leaving, Don Juan Carlos, who was the last one to sign, turned and said
to me sardonically, ‘And the pen, Paco? Careful with that lot! If you knew
them like I do …’. The object of his humour was a golden baroque quill,
purchased for the occasion. I reassured him that it was safe in my jacket
pocket, as an historical memento of the IAC. Another example of the bonhomie of the King occurred during the exhibition that we had prepared on
Astronomy in the Canaries when, seeing how I was struggling with my
Fig. 13.1 The author going over the notes for his inauguration address under the
bright sun of Teide Observatory. (Credit: IAC)
13 Royalty and Heads of State Above the Clouds (1985)
origins of the IAC. I received the title of Commander in Chief, and Rafael
Arnay, José Antonio Bonet, Maximino Galán, Manuel Vázquez, and Carlos
Sánchez were made Commanders. Much to the chagrin of his father, Carlos
Sánchez refused to step up to receive his award. All this business with ‘bits of
tin’, as he called it, seemed to him to be a lot of archaic nonsense.
The facilities of the new Institute of Astrophysics were toured and a symbolic plaque unveiled, which in our case was a bronze cube with allusive texts
in Spanish and English, similar to those located at each of the Observatories.
They remain there today to commemorate these events.
The visitors were then shown an exhibition, ‘Astrophysics in the Canaries’,
which displayed the present and, above all, the promising future of this science in Spain, due in large measure to the islands’ Observatories. In the
Library they signed the Roll of Honour, which was also inaugurated. As he
was leaving, Don Juan Carlos, who was the last one to sign, turned and said
to me sardonically, ‘And the pen, Paco? Careful with that lot! If you knew
them like I do …’. The object of his humour was a golden baroque quill,
purchased for the occasion. I reassured him that it was safe in my jacket
pocket, as an historical memento of the IAC. Another example of the bonhomie of the King occurred during the exhibition that we had prepared on
Astronomy in the Canaries when, seeing how I was struggling with my
Fig. 13.1 The author going over the notes for his inauguration address under the
bright sun of Teide Observatory. (Credit: IAC)
13 Royalty and Heads of State Above the Clouds (1985)