In the nine years that Felipe VI has been at the head of the Head of State, this Christmas Eve was the first in which he faced the Christmas Speech with his family situation under control, without citizens already expecting any appeal to crises led by theirs. But, on the contrary, the Monarch had before him this time another no less challenge: that of addressing in his Message one of the most anomalous political situations in these 45 years of democracy, and doing so, naturally, from the vantage point of neutrality and non-partisanship. from which the head of a parliamentary Monarchy can never move an iota.
Cowardice or prudery are not among the defects of Felipe VI as King. And, in the same way that in recent years, with phrases like “ethical principles are above family considerations” – especially in an institution like the Crown in the 21st century – or that State servants have to be “an example” of public and moral integrity”, he launched very harsh and unequivocal reproaches to his father and left it well explained why he has not rehabilitated him for institutional life – hence the absence of Don Juan Carlos in an act such as the swearing in of the Constitution of Leonor -, this time he has snapped at the political representatives who are not preventing “the germ of discord from ever establishing itself among us”, “a moral duty that we all have.”
Anyone who wants to feel addressed will feel that a few words are enough for a good understander. But the forceful Christmas Speech is not only to frame it, because it is one of those that make history, but it will have caused more than one of our leaders to turn red in the face and stay that way… at least until next Christmas Eve.
If Don Felipe has addressed a Speech of such forcefulness to the Spaniards, it is because the Head of State must be very concerned with the environmental situation, characterized by extreme polarization and a more than evident danger that the disruptive will end up completely cornering the consensual. And Don Felipe had no desire to hide it, on the contrary. But, it is fair to highlight it, the King can allow himself – many would even say that it is his obligation to do so – to show a red card and warn unequivocally that “all State institutions have the duty to conduct ourselves with the greatest responsibility and always seek the interests generals of all Spaniards with loyalty to the Constitution” because he has the auctoritas that confers him not only the fact of occupying the throne but the scruples with which he sits on it, that is, having set the bar of exemplarity very high starting with himself and those who make up the institution he embodies, and remaining at all times in the lane set by our Fundamental Law. It is not a bad exercise to read and listen to the lines of Philip VI’s Christmas Speeches as a continuous series.
The defense of the Constitution has become the path of his reign. And this time the Monarch has not stopped in claiming the great work of ’78, “the best example of union and coexistence between Spaniards” and “an essential instrument and guarantee so that the lives of Spaniards can continue to flow with confidence, with stability.” , with certainty”, that too. But he has issued the serious warning that the Constitution needs to be protected. And that the Head of State, in a Speech without rubbish, without rhetorical concessions, without subterfuges or euphemisms, wanted to point out that “for the Constitution to carry out its mission, it is not only required that we respect it, but also that we preserve its identity, which what defines it, what it means; its reason for being as a collective pact for all”, – come on, let’s not love it so much and love it well – reflects undisguised discomfort with the movements tending to denaturalize our Fundamental Law.
One may or may not agree with the King’s diagnosis, but the position he is forced to adopt is certainly serious. And it is those who have the responsibility of governing in their hands, with President Pedro Sánchez at the head, who, before anyone else, are responsible for giving an account to the citizens of what they are doing, or what they are not wanting to do, to “preserve that identity” of the Constitution to which the King urges. Can the Government not feel questioned?
However, the King has not stepped on any shifting ground that could swallow him, like the quagmire of amnesty. But he has not missed the opportunity to vindicate himself. When he emphasizes in his Speech that we Spaniards “have expressed and – above all – defended our constitutional values ??when they have been at risk”, it is impossible or extremely naive not to see a gesture of reaffirmation in his actions on 3-O for, in the exercise of their functions, contribute to stopping the most serious blow against our constitutional order since 23-F, which was the independence challenge in Catalonia. «Outside respect for the Constitution there is no democracy or coexistence possible; “There are no freedoms but imposition,” says Felipe VI. And his accurate analysis is too reminiscent of the toll paid for the present governability, it will be a coincidence.
It is also true that the royal slap on the wrist seems to be directed not only at the Government, but also extends to the rest of the powers and even to the set of political forces, which in so many issues such as the reform of the General Council of the Judiciary, for To give an example of the many that come to mind, they are putting party interest before “loyalty to the Constitution.” Also some of the leaders who most applaud the Speech may have turned a little reddish in the face.
Don Felipe will be equally liked by the spokespersons of many parties who value his words this December 25 and in subsequent days. And we will hear the most critical of his speech as “political” and, without even going into the substance, they will judge that he exceeds his role. But, as prestigious constitutionalists such as Javier Tajadura emphasize, “the right to message is inherent to every head of state, and with even more meaning and more legitimacy in any monarch of a parliamentary democracy, a supra-party, neutral and impartial figure, who in an elected president of the Republic. Another thing is that, we suppose, the King would like it if his Christmas messages could have the same lightness as those of any of his European peers. Because the need for the Monarch to make the most of his function of inspiration and warning also tells us about the political anomaly in which we are installed. Who knows until when.
