The King, as Head of State, is not a subject of any Government, but of the Constitution and the Nation he serves. And it is the Constitution that delimits the areas in which the Monarch and the Political Power act with the correlation of the governmental endorsement, without prejudice to the representative and arbitral configuration that the Constitution also attributes to the Monarch in his capacity as the first magistrate of the State. In this condition that the constitutional order of 1978 recognizes in the King, as Head of State, Felipe VI has assumed public commitments since his accession to the Throne inherent to those functions of representative of the State – “symbol of its unity and permanence” – , says the Constitution – and arbiter and moderator of the institutions of the State. That is to say, the King has his own public space, compatible with the one in which he must wait for the Government’s endorsement.
The Christmas Eve speeches of Felipe VI are, due to the events that have been experienced since 2014 without interruption, a long-awaited appointment for the exercise, always balanced and weighted, of the royal functions. The message that His Majesty addressed yesterday to the Spanish unequivocally ratified the adhesion of Felipe VI to the parliamentary Monarchy, understood as the institution receiving a foundational legitimation, neither occasional nor perishable, inextricably linked to the Spanish democracy of 1978. And with that legitimation of origin, reinforced by the process of renewal and transparency undertaken since 2014, the Crown is today the only public institution that deserves to be believed when it appeals to the common good, as Felipe VI did yesterday up to seven times in his Christmas Eve message. The tragedy of the Dana was the common thread of his words, well established in the direct and personal knowledge of the havoc caused by the floods in the lives and assets of the residents of Valencia and other surrounding areas. Those who deny the Kings their right – which is also a duty – to be with the residents of Catarroja when they consider it necessary turn out to be the same ones who have no qualms about leaving the Monarch alone in official international commitments.
The King occupied his public space and not precisely to make a formal intervention, but to give meaning to his presence in Spanish homes at a difficult and complex time, inside and outside our borders. He was not condescending or paternalistic with the Dana tragedy, because he was a spokesperson for “the frustration, pain and impatience” that demand “greater and more effective coordination of administrations.” In these words the mud of Paiporta, Catarroja and all the Valencian towns still irritated by the ineffectiveness of the State at all levels to recover normality was present. And in this context of the floods, Don Felipe vindicated the common good and did so not as a pat on the back to the country’s leaders, but as a call for it to “be clearly reflected in any speech or any political decision.”
The neutrality of the Monarch is not synonymous with blindness or indifference to the reality of our country. There was not when he acceded to the Throne and was aware that the Crown had to imperatively undertake a program of regenerative measures to overcome the echoes of the last times of the reign of Juan Carlos I. Nor when on October 3, 2017, he gave a historic speech , a militant for democracy, the law and coexistence against the Catalan independence movement. And once again Felipe VI has lived up to his constitutional significance with the tragedy of the dana, setting his own agenda of personal encounter with citizens, without the slightest brush with the responsibilities of the Executive Branch. It has also been consistent in demanding a way of doing politics that favors “shared spaces” and fosters “agreements around what is essential.” Whoever wants to take it for granted should do so, but this is the general feeling of citizens, who want another way of doing politics. Don Felipe proposed something as simple – and as revolutionary today – as following the example of the consensus that led to the 1978 Constitution and defending liberal democracy and social well-being, as pillars of our society. In a calm and firm manner, the King successfully once again occupied his public space in democratic Spain.
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