Felipe VI and Mas visit Seat to mark the 30th anniversary of the Ibiza.

King Felipe VI and President Artur Mas visited the facilities of the SEAT automobile company in Martorell today, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Ibiza, the brand's flagship model. During this visit, the monarch drove a Seat León with Mas as co-pilot.

Felipe VI arrived at the Seat headquarters shortly before 11 a.m. and held a private, closed-door meeting with a dozen Catalan business leaders, including the presidents of the Foment del Treball employers' association, Joaquim Gay de Montellà; the president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Miquel Valls; and the president of the Círculo Ecuestre, Borja García Nieto.

Mas, the Minister of Industry, Energy, and Tourism, José Manuel Soria, the president of SEAT, Jürgen Stackmann, and the Government Delegate in Catalonia, Llanos de Luna, among other officials, also attended this meeting. They then visited Workshop 10 of the plant, where the Leon and Ibiza models, the brand's most popular models, are manufactured.

The King of Spain arrived at the workshop's doors driving a Seat León Experience, with the President of the Generalitat (Catalan government) as co-pilot, and Minister Soria in the back.

According to sources within the Royal Household, the Seat Ibiza was the first car that Felipe VI owned, a vehicle given to him by his father, King Juan Carlos, when he came of age.

The delegation, which also included the Minister of the Interior, Ramon Espadaler, and the president of the Seat works council, Matías Carnero, visited the SEAT Ibiza assembly line, the innovation center, and the supervision center, where vehicles undergo final testing before going on sale.

At the assembly workshop, Felipe VI was able to learn about the dual vocational training system operating at Seat and greet the first cohort of students in these programs, who combine training with factory work, following the German model.

On his second visit to Catalonia since being proclaimed King, Felipe VI also saw some of the latest technologies incorporated into this workshop, such as ergonomic improvement systems and automated guided vehicles (ATVs) to supply the production lines, with the aim of increasing the factory's efficiency and competitiveness.

The authorities then visited the company's "meisterbock," the facilities where the vehicles' quality is tested, and were able to see firsthand the durability of the vehicle's sheet metal and interiors.

Source: El Economista