Editorial/Opinion
Año Horrible for the Spanish King
By h.b. - Dec 27, 2007 - 9:51 AM
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EDITORIAL COMMENT
2007 has not been the best year for King Juan Carlos I of Spain.
Despite what some sections of the media would have you think the Spanish monarch is still a very popular figure with the public, but 2007 did prove to be a dramatic year on many levels.
February 7 saw the dramatic death of the younger sister of the Princess of Asturias. Erika Ortiz had been a troubled soul for sometime, and the Spanish Royal Family was seen supporting their princess, pregnant at the time. An autopsy revealed an overdose of pills as the cause of death.
The Catalan Republic Party ERC chose the date of the anniversary of the Second Republic, April 14, to demand in parliament that the Government give details on just how much the Spanish Royal Family costs the taxpayer. Their demands for greater transparency in the Royal accounts was met in part, but their further 100 questions placed on subject grabbed the headlines and debate for a time.
July 20 saw the publication of the satirical magazine ‘El Jueves’ which showed a cartoon of the Prince and Princess of Asturias having sex on the cover. The Government had just introduced a new payment for each new birth and adoption in Spain, and the Prince is saying that if the Princess gets pregnant it would be the first job he has ever had. A huge debate ensued on freedom of speech and respect for the monarchy, and the whole affair was made far more prominent by the mistaken decision of National Court Judge, Juan del Olmo, to order the withdrawal of the magazine from the streets. In these days of the Internet the move only led to a far great diffusion of the offending cartoon.
In September the King was in Girona to open a new university facility, and was met by a small but vocal group of Catalan nationalists, some of which publically burned images of the Royal Family in the street. There were copycat protests in other parts of the region in later days.
The next problem came from the PP Regional President of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre. At a dinner and sat at the King’s table, she called on Juan Carlos to be more respectful for the COPE broadcaster, her friend, Jiménez Losantos. His morning programme has been a tirade of far right wing abuse for some time, and on several occasions he has publically called for the King to abdicate.
The first visit of the King and Queen to the Spanish north African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla at the start of November brought thousands of the residents out onto the streets to celebrate. However it also brought serious criticism from the Moroccan Government which considered the visit as a provocation as they claim the sovereignty of the enclaves.
And then came the so-called ‘temporary separation’ of the Infanta Elena from her husband Jaime de Marichalar, announced in Mid November. Since then the gossip papers and television in Spain have made it clear that the couple have been leading separate lives for some time.
It was November 10 when the King earned the respect of many across the world when, in a loss of cool and protocol, he lashed out at the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, at the Ibero American summit being held in Chile.
Chávez had been calling the previous Spanish Prime Minister, José María Aznar, a fascist for some time, and as Zapatero demanded respect for an elected Prime Minister of Spain, the King famously told Chávez to shut up. The episode may even have cost Chávez the loss of the referendum. It showed Juan Carlos to be human, and it’s exactly that quality, his humanity, which makes him so popular with the people of Spain.
We wish him well and a better 2008.