2023-12-24 22:16:44
The Constitution, which he has mentioned 12 times, more than once a minute; and the unity of Spain, which has been taken for granted against those who predict its breakup. These have been the issues to which the King has dedicated this Sunday night, almost monographically, his tenth Christmas message since he came to the throne. He could have referred to many other topics, as he himself acknowledged at the beginning of his speech, but aware that it is his most followed speech – 6.7 million viewers last year -, a unique opportunity to get into the homes of the Spanish families without intermediaries, has preferred to focus on two issues that he considers especially serious, judging by his tone and words.
If last year Felipe VI already warned of the risk represented by the “deterioration of coexistence” and the “erosion of institutions”, this time he has gone one step further. He has alluded, without citing it, to one of the darkest pages in the history of Spain – the Civil War that devastated the country 87 years ago and paved the way for almost four decades of dictatorship – and has warned against the temptation to relapse into confrontation. fratricidal.
“Thanks to the Constitution we managed to overcome the division, which has been the cause of many errors in our history; that opened wounds, fractured affections and distanced people,” he said. “Overcoming that division, therefore, was our main success almost five decades ago. Therefore, preventing the germ of discord from ever establishing itself among us is a moral duty that we all have. Because we can’t afford it,” he added.
At a time when the insult seems to have settled in Spanish political life and the agreements between the parties are presented as a concession or a betrayal, the King has stressed that, “in Spain, every citizen has the right to think, express himself and defend your ideas”. But that must be done, he added, “with respect for others.” And taking into account that “democracy also requires basic and broad consensus on shared principles.” Namely: “Freedom, justice, equality and political pluralism”; those values that “unite, give strength and permanence to a democratic system” like the Spanish one. “We must not forget that one of our great assets in democracy is coexistence,” he stressed.
After his call to banish tension and recover consensus, Felipe VI has given a serious warning to the State institutions, reminding them that they must conduct themselves “with the greatest responsibility” and “always pursue the general interests of all Spaniards.” , with loyalty to the Constitution.” And he has emphasized: “Each institution, starting with the King, must place itself in the place that constitutionally corresponds to it, exercise the functions attributed to it and comply with the obligations and duties that the Constitution indicates to it.”
In recent weeks, sectors of the extreme right have tried to pressure the head of state to abandon his role as arbitrator and get involved in the political battle. At the same time, the Government has stressed that the PP’s refusal to comply with its constitutional obligations and sit down to negotiate has kept the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) blocked for five years.
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“We must also respect other institutions in the exercise of their own powers and contribute mutually to their strengthening and prestige,” added the Monarch, in a statement ambiguous enough so that those who maintain that the amnesty invades the powers of the courts are protected by those words, but so can those who criticize that the CGPJ ruled on the bill that includes the measure of grace when it did not even exist. Those who reproach the PP for taking domestic disputes to the European institutions can also be considered endorsed, given the King’s call to “always ensure the good name, dignity and respect” of Spain. But in that same phrase those who maintain that the Government is wrong to agree with parties, such as Junts, that have been attacking Spain’s image abroad for years, can find support.
In what has not been polysemic, his speech has been in the closed defense of the Constitution, “the greatest political success in our recent history”, in his words, which has allowed not only “to build and consolidate a full, open and inclusive democracy , a social and democratic State of law”, but also “overcome various and serious crises in recent years”, he added, in the only veiled allusion to the Catalan independence process.
Felipe VI has claimed the Constitution “as an instrument and guarantee” so that “the lives of Spaniards can continue to flow with confidence, stability, certainty”, but he has warned that not only must it be respected, but also preserve its identity “as a pact collective” and preserve its integrity “as a place of mutual recognition, acceptance and encounter approved by all Spaniards.” He has specifically warned: “Outside of respect for the Constitution, there is no democracy or coexistence possible; there are no freedoms but imposition; There is no law but arbitrariness. “Outside the Constitution there is no Spain in peace and freedom.”
After the warnings and admonitions, he has conveyed a message of optimism and confidence in the ability of Spanish society to ward off the risks and overcome the challenges that lie ahead. He has presented Spain as a “strong society”, which had “exemplary civic behavior” in the face of the pandemic, demonstrated “courage, dignity and principles in the face of terrorism”; and defended its constitutional values “when they have been in question or have been called into question.”
“The ultimate reason for our successes and progress in recent history has been precisely the unity of our country,” he emphasized, adding: “I have no doubt that unity will also be the key for us to successfully face the serious and complex risks that Spain faces today.”
It is Gaza and Ukraine
At a time when the pro-independence forces are declining electorally but gaining political influence, the King has chased away the specter of the supposed danger of breaking up national unity. “Spain will continue forward,” he declared. “With determination, with hope, we will do it together, aware of our historical and current reality, of our truth as a nation. The Crown will always be on that path, not only because it is my duty as King, but also because it is my conviction.”
The Constitution and national unity have captured a speech similar in length to last year’s (1,467 words) from which international politics has been left out, except for an allusion to the Spanish presidency of the EU. He has not mentioned the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza nor the war in Ukraine, which he did speak about last Christmas. Instead, it has included “economic and social difficulties”, employment, health, education, the price of basic services, “unacceptable violence against women” or young people’s access to housing among the issues of those that he would have liked to talk about, but he has only done so to ensure that the rights linked to these “are those that the Constitution protects, guarantees and protects.”
It is the same Constitution, he recalled, that the Princess of Asturias swore on October 31 before the Cortes, upon reaching the age of majority. Although Leonor de Borbón has taken a strong role this year, she has only mentioned her again at the end; when she, on behalf of the Royal Family, said goodbye to her wishing merry Christmas in Spanish, Basque, Catalan and Galician. The image of the heiress, however, has been present throughout the speech through the only photograph that could be seen behind the King: the one from the day her daughter swore the Constitution.
La Zarzuela shows the Royal Family with the people
The images that appear after Felipe VI’s speech, while the national anthem plays, show the King, the Queen, the Princess of Asturias and the Infanta Sofía saluting in Madrid (Leonor de Borbón’s swearing-in), at the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, in the Canary Islands with families affected by the La Palma, or Yuste, volcano (Carlos V Awards) during 2023. They all have a common link, the closeness of the Royal Family to the people, except for the last one, in which The Kings dress up for the coronation of Charles III of England. Like last year, Felipe VI’s speech was recorded in the audience hall of the La Zarzuela Palace, where the King appears seated in a blue suit, white striped shirt and tie.
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