The reasons are different, but the decision is the same: the majority of political groups will sit in Congress at the King’s House in an event to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the monarchy. Vox was the latest group to announce their absence. Party sources confirmed this on Tuesday, arguing that they “will not share space with a corrupt government” to “pretend an institutional normality that does not exist”. With this absence, the list of groups that have confirmed their withdrawal is getting longer: a week ago Sumar, Compromís, Izquierda Unida, Podemos, Junts, Esquerra Republicana, EH Bildu and PNV did so. Yes, they will support the Kings, accompanied by the Princess of Asturias, Leonor, and the Infanta Sofia, the PP and the PSOE.
The interview The Crown in the transition to democracywhich will take place on November 21st in the Constitutional Chamber, what the Crown represented in the political transition process will be discussed in a more academic tone. Those from Abascal argued that they will not participate “in an act in which they cannot denounce government corruption” and in which “a law of historical memory that seeks to delegitimize the Crown is celebrated”. The breakdown in institutional relations occurred in October, when they did not attend the reception offered by the Kings on the occasion of Hispanic Heritage Day at the Royal Palace.
The justification in October was the same one they used now: not to share space with “the corrupt and dangerous government”. What the leader of the ultra formation, Santiago Abascal, did was watch the parade in the street together with the public who came to see it. At that moment he assured that “he was sure that His Majesty was not offended by his absence”.
The reasons why government partners did not intervene are radically different. Sumar’s deputy, Gerardo Pisarello, announced last Tuesday that he refused to attend with “deep conviction” because 50 years after the death of the dictator Francisco Franco “it is unacceptable that the Crown has not publicly expressed its dissociation from the Franco regime, which was the one that returned it to the leadership of the State”.
In a press release issued by the House of Commons, he further stated: “Fifty years after the dictatorship, we still do not know the whole truth about 23-F; there is no sensational and unequivocal condemnation of Franco’s regime; and the king emeritus is tolerated to claim his personal closeness to a dictator responsible for repression, exile and thousands of victims.” “We cannot support a biased and complacent account of our recent history that hides essential issues and normalizes the praise of a tyrant. Democracy was not a gift from above: it was the achievement of millions of people,” he said.
The event will be moderated by journalists Fernando Ónega and Iñaki Gabilondo and will see the participation of Miquel Roca and Miguel Herrero, fathers of the Constitutionas well as the academic Adela Cortina, and the president of the Center for Political and Constitutional Studies, Rosario García Mahamut.
The commemoration is part of the events organized to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the monarchy in Spain, which will take place on November 22 and coincides with the publication of the memoirs in France. by Juan Carlos I.
