Recognition
H.M. Queen Sofía, Honorary Elder Sister
Since September 2026, the women who take the staff of office each February have had an Honorary Elder Sister.
How it came about
It all began in early 2025. The Hermandad de Santa Águeda, a corporation of women from a village of just over seven hundred people, wrote to His Majesty the King. A few days later a reply came from the Royal Household: a courteous letter explaining clearly what was asked of an organisation in such a case.
That opened almost a year of work. The sisters searched studies, the press and the village’s documents for everything that could attest to their history, and gathered their statutes, their activities and their life as an association. A modest corporation had to prepare a dossier worthy of the institution it was addressing, and it did so with its own means.
At the end of 2025 the Brotherhood proposed H.M. Queen Sofía as Honorary Elder Sister. The proposal made sense twice over: it suited the corporation’s female character and coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of her proclamation as Queen. A few days later, the town hall of Espinosa endorsed it in writing.
In January 2026 the Royal Household replied that it was considering the offer, and asked for the endorsement of the diocesan Bishop. That February, the Bishop of Sigüenza-Guadalajara himself, Julián Ruiz Martorell, presided over the Saint Agatha Mass in Espinosa and saw at first hand what he was being asked to support. With reports from the parish priest and the mayor, he signed the endorsement in the spring, and in June the Brotherhood sent it to La Zarzuela.
The answer came in September 2026. A letter from the Office of H.M. Queen Sofía announced that she had been pleased to accept the appointment, conveying «Her Majesty’s affectionate greeting to all the members of that Brotherhood». With it came Credential no. 202/2026, signed by the Head of the Royal Household.
In October, in a square in the village and dressed in their costumes, they told their neighbours.
The announcement
«First news»
This is how the Brotherhood told the village, Credential in hand and in their familiar costumes.
Video transcript
«Well, neighbours of Espinosa, the sisters of Saint Agatha, this year’s mayoress and the previous mayoress have asked me to give you the first news of the letter we received today. Queen Sofía, the Queen Emerita, has agreed to be an Honorary Sister of the Brotherhood of Saint Agatha. With this step, in a few years, we hope our brotherhood will become a royal brotherhood. Many thanks to everyone who helped make this possible; there have been years of work and many letters, and at last they have received this honour.» Bravo! Well done! Thank you.
The official title of the appointment is «Hermana Mayor Honoraria» (Honorary Elder Sister).
What it means
An entirely female corporation, in a small village in Guadalajara, has Her Majesty as its Honorary Elder Sister. The sisters also feel it as a recognition of the rural world and of the women who keep their villages, traditions and heritage alive.
What it does not mean yet
The Brotherhood does not currently hold the title of «Royal». The Royal Household stated that among the requirements for granting it, at least five years must have passed since a member of the Royal Family accepted an honorary appointment. That period has only just begun. Its name remains, proudly, the Hermandad de Santa Águeda de Espinosa de Henares.