| Unit Name: | Musical Unit of the Spanish Royal Guard |
| Native Name: | Unidad musical de la Guardia Real España |
| March: | Himno de la Guardia Real ("Hymn of the Royal Guards") |
| Branch: | Spanish Armed Forces |
| Dates: | 1998–present |
| Allegiance: | Felipe VI of Spain |
| Size: | battalion sized |
| Command Structure: | Spanish Royal Guard |
| Garrison: | Madrid |
| Current Commander: | Colonel Musician Enrique Damián Blasco Cebolla[1] |
| Anniversaries: | October 12 |
The Musical Unit of the Spanish Royal Guard (Spanish; Castilian: Unidad musical de la Guardia Real España) is the official music service of the Spanish Royal Guard of the Spanish Armed Forces that is dedicated to providing ceremonial honours and music to the King of Spain, the Spanish Royal Family, and public officials. The musical unit is one of many battalion sized units in the regiment, with over 100 professional musicians in its ranks who are chosen from the non-commissioned officers of the Military Music Corps. It is one of the more senior and representative bands in the Spanish Armed Forces, with its repertoire covering a wide range of Army, Navy and Air Force music. The entire unit is currently under the baton of the conductor of the Military Band of the Royal Guard, Colonel Musician Enrique Damián Blasco Cebolla.
The Musical Unit of the Royal Guard was first organized as a singular musical group on February 19, 1874, with its first director being Martín Elexpuru. Its current structure dates back to 1998 and since then it has been constituted by the Symphonic Band, Marching Band and the Fife Section.[2]
Among their obligations are the following:
The marching band has performed it precision marching drill throughout Europe, with notable performances being in London, Paris, Cologne, Bucharest, and Moscow.[3] [4]
| Name | Start date | End date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mariano Rodríguez Rubio | 1842 | 1857 | |
| Leopoldo Martín Elexpuru | 1867 | 1868 | |
| Leopoldo Martín Elexpuru | 1875 | 1893 | |
| Enrique Calvist Serrano | 1894 | 1895 | |
| Eduardo López Juarranz | 1896 | 1897 | |
| Bartolomé Pérez Casas | 1897 | 1911 | |
| Emilio Vega Manzano | 1911 | 1937 | |
| Luis Álvarez Martínez | 1937 | 1939 | |
| Ricardo Vidal Tolosa | 1957 | 1975 | |
| José López Calvo | 1976 | 1988 | |
| Francisco Grau Vegara | 1989 | 2007 | |
| Antonio Sendra Cebolla | 2008 | 2010 | |
| Enrique Damián Blasco Cebolla | 2010 | 2020 | |
| Armando Bernabeu Andreu | 2020 | TBD | |
| Source:[5] | |||