This Wednesday, Felipe VI celebrates ten years as king of Spain, a difficult path that he has had to travel on tiptoe.
According to the criteria of
On June 19, 2014, during his proclamation, Felipe VI raised the need for a renewed monarchy. As a burden, the then prince of Asturias had experienced the scandals of his father, King Juan Carlos I, who had to abdicate in favor of his son after his continuity was impossible due to the two scandals of corruption that involved him.
The main objective of the new king, therefore, cHe insisted on bringing new air to the monarchy.
Not only was his father involved in fiscal and sexual problems, but also his brother-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarinwas the major implicated in an episode of corruption known as the Nóos case, which led to Felipe VI to take the duchy of Palma from his sister Cristina and her husband to distance them from the Royal House.
On the other hand, the distance from his father led the now emeritus King Juan Carlos I to be forced to expatriate to Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, where he currently resides.
Felipe VI even renounced the family inheritance to clear up the doubts generated by judicial investigations into the illicit origin of his father’s assets.
In the midst of this earthquake, The new king assumed the throne with the goal of collecting the broken pieces of the centuries-old Spanish monarchy, putting them together with tweezers and trying to glue them together with extreme delicacy.
The ‘hairdressing’ that Felipe VI did to the Spanish royal family
The new air of the Spanish crown had to be marked by three commitments made by Felipe VI: integrity, honesty and transparency.
The first step was to reduce the size of the official royal family, which went from being composed of 16 people to six: Juan Carlos and Sofía, his parents; Letizia Ortiz, his wife; and his daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía joined him.
In this way, the Spanish royal family became one of the smallest in Europe, only surpassed by that of Norway.
The idea was to get rid of responsibilities and burdens of members who could be expendable. However, Felipe VI could not touch his parents, who are emeritus kings.
For researcher Jordi Canal, author of The Monarchy in the 21st Century, “it is the hardest thing the king has had to deal with in these ten years”
In addition to that, and beyond his scandals, Juan Carlos I is remembered, according to polls, in a positive way in Spain due to his timely and courageous performance in the attempted coup d’état of 1981.
That year, on February 23, Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero He tried to take power by force of arms and the actions of the then king prevented him from achieving his goal. Hence 65 percent of young Spaniards recognize their key role in defending democracyaccording to the report Spanish youth talk about the Monarchy.
Regarding transparency, since 2022, a royal decree obliges the king to submit to audits by the Court of Auditors, to publish budgets and allocations of members of the royal family and to report on gifts received as head of state.
Does the king of Spain pass or fail?
At the end of this first decade of reign, opinion weighs the date with a relevant fact: the signing by the monarch of the amnesty law which will allow those responsible for the attempted separation of Catalonia that took place in 2017 to be cleared of charges.
Of course, this is a coincidence that turns our gaze towards the role that King Felipe VI has played in one of the most sensitive issues in Spain since his arrival to the throne. And although the legislative regulations must bear the signature of the head of state, regardless of whether he agrees or not, the public debate is precisely asking about the king’s position.
For researcher Jordi Canal, author of The Monarchy in the 21st Century, “it is the hardest thing the king has had to deal with in these ten years,” according to what he said in an interview with the newspaper. The country.
Her image is “a step forward in the representation of women in leadership positions” and that can reinforce the role of women in society, as well as “promote gender equality inside and outside the monarchical institution.”
On October 3, two days after the separatist referendum, with an audience of 77 percent in front of the televisions, Felipe VI expressed his discomfort in a speech of only six minutes.
Several years later, the Catalans, among all Spaniards, are still the harshest critics of the king.: 52.5 percent disapprove of his work as head of state. Only 18 percent approve of his management, according to the IMOP Insights Institute.
These data contrast with those obtained at the national level: 46.4 percent of Spaniards have a positive view of the king’s work compared to 20.9 percent who are dissatisfied with his performance.
The most “felipistas” are the Andalusians and the least are the Catalans. But the majority of the autonomous communities (departments) give Felipe VI an approval with values over 50 percent.
On the other hand, a survey by the Center for Sociological Research indicates that, currently, The monarchy only worries 0.5 percent of those surveyed, while unemployment worries 26 percent and the economic situation worries 24.8 percent.
Leonor, the princess of Asturias heir to the throne
In these 10 years, the public emergence of the eldest daughter of Felipe VI, Leonor de Borbón, princess of Asturias, has been fundamental in the process of recovering the image of the monarchy and in the results of the surveys.
Her image is “a step forward in the representation of women in leadership positions” and can reinforce the role of women in society, as well as “promote gender equality inside and outside the monarchical institution,” according to what she says. the report Spanish youth dialogue about the Monarchy.
And, according to IMOP Insights, 60 percent of Spaniards think that Leonor will be a good successor to her father.
For now, the Princess of Asturias, who turned 18 on October 31 and with her coming of age swore in the Constitution that framed her commitment to maintaining the royal lineage, is undergoing disciplined preparation.
This year he hopes to finish his military education at the General Military Academy of the Army in Zaragoza, which will be followed by another year in the Navy, in Pontevedra; and then he will continue at the San Javier Air Academy, in Murcia.
Discreet and smiling, she appears at public events, almost always in the company of her parents and her sister Sofía.
The extreme left insists on replacing the Spanish monarchy
An assessment of Felipe VI’s management in the first decade indicates that the disappointments and difficult times have been overcome thanks to his own efforts. Tranquility is the predominant note in the immediate future, although he knows that he cannot let his guard down.
Politicians do not seem to hesitate, except for the leaders of the extreme left, staunch supporters of replacing the monarchy with a republic. In fact, these supporters recently gathered in Madrid to call for the abolition of the current regime.
Podemos participated in the protest, called under the slogan “Ten years are enough”, whose general secretary, Ione Belarra, has assured that Spain will not have a “full democracy” until it is “a republic” and added that the monarchical institution “ “It represents corruption.”
For his part, the former president of the Congress of Deputies, the conservative Jesús Posada, in an interview with the newspaper ABC, pointed out that “the monarchy has been strengthened in these ten years of Felipe VI’s reign and that now the institution is stronger.”
In these 10 years, with Felipe VI, the monarchy overcame the worst crisis of democracy. But, although the castle has been strengthened, it is still made of cards and the king is aware that he must act with the greatest caution because he is not exempt from a strong wind ending up collapsing it.
JUANITA SAMPER OSPINA
EL TIEMPO correspondent
MADRID
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