MADRID – U.S. first lady Jill Biden has some company on a trip to Spain: two of her granddaughters.
Biden opened the visit to Madrid on Monday by meeting with Queen Letizia at the Palacio de la Zarzuela. They later toured the headquarters of the Spanish Association Against Cancer.
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The first lady is an advocate for research into a cancer cure. She lost her adult son, Beau, to brain cancer in 2015. Several of her girlfriends also succumbed to breast cancer.
She arrived in Madrid on Sunday, before President Joe Biden, who is set to arrive Tuesday to attend the annual NATO summit.
“I brought my two granddaughters,” the first lady told Letizia as they chatted at the palace. “We stayed up and, you know, had a glass of wine.”
Her adult granddaughters Maisy and Finnegan — Finnegan was already in Spain when the first lady arrived — did not join her palace visit. They were at the U.S. Embassy visiting with Ambassador Julissa Reynoso, formerly the first lady's chief of staff, Biden said.
The first lady also paid a courtesy call on Begoña Gómez, the wife of President Pedro Sanchez.
On Tuesday, Jill Biden and Letizia will visit a greeting center in Madrid for Ukrainian refugees taken in by Spain and meet with Ukrainian families in Madrid.
She and the president will attend a NATO dinner on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the first lady will participate in the agenda for spouses of the NATO country leaders, including visits to Madrid’s Prado and Reina Sofia museums, before she flies back to Washington.
President Biden will depart for Washington on Thursday after the NATO summit ends.