Se recibe a Manuel Godoy con más extravagancia que a Carlos IV

The king’s visit to Barcelona last year (1802) when the double marriage took place, is still the subject of conversation. The grandest scene on this occasion was, the three nights’ procession representing the blessings of peace, and the ancient triumphs of Spanish history, particularly the eastern expeditions of the Catalans and Arragonese in the fourteenth century. The dresses are said to have been very splendid; but judging by the prints which are now sold, not much taste was displayed in the machines and decorations made use of in this festival. To discharge the expense, the town was laid under a contribution; an English merchant told us that his share amounted to seventy pounds. The king was a month on his road from Madrid, through Sarragosa, and his retinue was like an army: upwards of eighty thousand persons, exclusive of the inhabitants of the city, were collected; and the Catalans felt a generous pride in observing that no accident or quarrel occurred, and no life was lost, notwithstanding the enmity subsisting between them and the Spaniards. This enmity is carried to such a height, that, when it was proposed to strike a medal in honour of the king’s visit, the academy of arts of St. Fernando, at Madrid, were requested to superintend the execution; but this body actuated by a most illiberal and unworthy spirit, endeavoured to excuse themselves, and made every possible delay; which so enraged the Catalans, that they withdrew the business from their hands, and entrusted it to their own academy. The medal was produced in a month, and remains a record rather of their loyal zeal, than of their ability in the fine arts. The Prince of the Peace [Godoy] appeared here in greater state than the king himself; he was lodged in the palace of commerce, and had a guard of honour daily mounted before his door.

[Undated]