A successful parachute jump with a 24-square-meter Spanish flag marks the beginning of the 12-O parade

The Parachuting Acrobatic Patrol of the Air and Space Army (PAPEA) has completed the traditional jump with the Spanish flag in front of the royal grandstand during the National Holiday Day parade. The paratroopers performed several maneuvers and turns on themselves during the descent before displaying the national flag and heading towards the landing zone, located in the Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo in Madrid.

First Corporal José Antonio Lago Rubio was in charge of carrying the flag, measuring 24 square meters and weighing 15 kilos, while First Sergeant Pablo García Matanza acted as a guide during the jump. Both are part of the National Military Parachuting Team and have starred in one of the most anticipated moments of the central event on October 12.

Lago, a native of Murcia, has more than 12,500 jumps and is Spanish champion in the Precision and Landing modality. Furthermore, in January of this year he was appointed PAPEA coach again, a position for which his experience and career have been taken into account.

For his part, García Matanza, of Galician origin, has accumulated more than 4,000 skydiving launches and is also part of the National Civil Parachuting Team. In April he won the gold medal in the absolute team classification of the 58th National Military Parachuting Championship.