One of the most surprising things after the attack in Barcelona was the lateness of the Royal Family's response.
They did not give signs of life until three and a half hours after the attack, when they vigorously condemned the events through a tweet:
Translation: They're murderers, simply some criminals who will not terrorise us. All of Spain is Barcelona. The Rambla will be for everyone again.
Eight hours had to pass before it was confirmed that King Felipe VI would attend the minute's silence the next day in plaça Catalunya:
The King will be in plaça Catalunya in Barcelona today to join the minute's silence in solidarity with the victims of the attack.
The monarch ended up arriving at the Catalan capital on Friday, the day after the attack, while queen Letizia did not make it until Saturday.
The monarchs were then seen paying homage to the victims on the Rambla, Felipe after having attended the minute's silence on the Friday, and this is what the magazine ¡Hola! wanted to show on its cover this week.
On it, we see Letizia's face as the main photo, whilst Felipe appears in the inset. Both photographed in moments of apparent pain: they show sad expressions and closed eyes. It's even possible to draw the conclusion that the queen cannot contain her tears.
The cover has received much criticism online among users wondering why ¡Hola! wants to show the supposed human face of the monarchs:
But at least photoshop some small tear on to them, they're trying their hardest to make the gesture!
Note the subtlety of the make-up. She's wearing some, yes, but lightly done, so you don't notice.
The Official State Gazette of the monarchy; Hola!
Excuse me for laughing...hahaha. Ridiculous that they have to publish such photos to build up the Royal family. Pitiful
There are also some that, besides attacking the magazine, directly attack the monarchs. They believe that they went to Barcelona to have their photo taken and “now they have it”, or they believe it "hypocritical" to show themselves so moved by attacks like this whilst allegedly selling arms to certain countries:
That's what they came for, and now they have it.
Hola! Is there anyone there? ... just that other than those two acting badly, there's no one else.
A cover that's far from hitting the mark. The monarchs arrived the day after the attack and looked for a photo with the injured.
What hypocracy. They're responsable too!
Felipe and Letizia have been photographed in Mallorca days after the attack, where they've been having a break after the interruption to their secret holidays by the terrorist attack.