Then heir to the throne, Felipe was a member of the Spanish sailing team and was chosen to lead his fellow competitors into the Montjuic Stadium while bearing the national colours.

Felipe VI, who became King in 2014 when his father Juan Carlos abdicated, will attend the 30th anniversary celebration of the High Performance Center of Sant Cugat del Vallés, where he is scheduled to deliver the first speech. 

In the afternoon, he will visit the Palace Albéniz for a reception being held by the Barcelona City Council in honour of the 1992 Games.

The King’s visits takes place against a background of political volatility following the strong recent resurgence of the campaign to make Catalonia a separate state.

Political observers in Spain expect the monarch to use the memories of the Barcelona 1992 Games, a collective triumph of collaboration between the national, regional and city Government, as a reminder of what can be achieved through unity and political consensus.

The Opening Ceremony celebrations are the latest manifestations of the Barcelona 1992 25^th anniversary programme that has been running this year, featuring school activities, sporting events and “City and Olympism” conferences.

The Games were successful for the nation in terms of medals with Spain finishing sixth overall with 22 medals, including 13 golds, but perhaps above all, the event came to be seen as the Regeneration Games.

Barcelona’s Deputy Mayor of Quality of Life, Equality and Sports Maite Fandos has hailed the positive impact of hosting the 1992 Games.

"It placed us on the world map from a sporting point-of-view and led to other events coming to the city," she said.

"What is amazing is the breadth of impact that the Olympic Games can have – not only as a sporting event but also in terms of economic regeneration.

"Barcelona is the inspiration for any city holding an Olympic Games after what happened in 1992.”

Read the Big Read on the Barcelona 1992 Games here.