Disappearing themes, such as the terrorism of ETA, the terrorist group that put an end to more than four decades of terror in 2011; others that arise, such as the housing crisis, and problems that will one day invade the building itself, such as the lack of exemplary character. Through the King’s speeches, always endorsed by the Government, the evolution of the country can be told. Juan Carlos I and Felipe VI spoke in different Spains with different concerns, Christmas Eve after Christmas Eve, but there are repeating patterns like refrains, like tensions and calls for unity, present in many of their speeches. The following is a summary of some of his most surprising, controversial or transcendental messages at any time.
Similarities and differences of proclamation speeches
The king proclamation speech that Don Juan Carlos delivered 50 years ago, on November 22, 1975, two days after Franco’s death, had 966 words and took him only 12 minutes to deliver. That of Philip VI’s proclamation in 2014, of almost 3,000 words, lasted about half an hour.
That day, Juan Carlos I had to measure, contain – the Francoist sector – and enthuse – those who wanted democracy after the death of the dictator. He introduced himself as “the nation’s first soldier”; “a profoundly Catholic king” and remembered Franco – “his memory will constitute for me a request for behavior and loyalty” – even if he did not mention the military coup of 18 July 1936, which the Francoists took badly. Nearly four decades later, it fell to his son to convince those disenchanted with the scandals of the previous reign that he knew the monarchy had exhausted its margin for error and would have to earn the throne any day. He promised “an upright, honest and transparent monarchy” capable of “continuously earning” the “appreciation, respect and trust” of citizens. The father spoke of the “sacred reality of Spain”. The son, who greeted us by thanking us in the four co-official languages, for “the different ways of hearing Spanish”.
Christmas speeches: corruption and political tension
Traditionally, in his Christmas Eve speeches, the Monarch takes stock, reviewing the most important events of the year and whether there have been tragedies, such as the 9/11 attacks or, more recently, the devastating Valencia disaster, to send a message of affection to the victims. In both the speeches of Juan Carlos I and Philip VI, certain patterns, i.e. problems, such as calls for “unity” were repeated. “I would like to launch a special appeal for the recovery of habits of dialogue and moderation in public life,” said Don Juan Carlos in 1995. “It is necessary that the political conflict, legitimate, but sometimes noisy, does not prevent us from hearing an even more resounding request: a request for serenity,” his son proclaimed last year.
Corruption has occupied part of the Monarch’s Christmas speeches on more than one occasion, including one that affected the royal family itself. “All of us, especially those who hold public responsibilities,” declared Juan Carlos I on Christmas Eve 2011, “have the duty to observe appropriate behavior, exemplary behavior (…) we live in a state of law and any reprehensible action must be judged and punished according to the law. Justice is equal for all.” Then he was referring to the Nóos case, which ended up sending his son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarin to prison, and not to the personal scandals that would emerge later. In his first Christmas speech after his father’s abdication, Felipe VI declared: “We need a profound regeneration of our collective life. And in this task, the fight against corruption is an indispensable objective.” Just 48 hours earlier, Judge José Castro had sent her sister Cristina to court as a collaborator in her husband’s fraud. In the end she was acquitted.
Exceptionality: 23-F, 11-M and challenge for independence
In October 2017, in full processes independence movement and after the illegal referendum, Philip VI exceptionally addressed the nation in the face of what he defined as “very serious moments for our democratic life”. “It is the responsibility of the legitimate powers of the State to guarantee the constitutional order and the normal functioning of the institutions, the validity of the rule of law and the self-government of Catalonia, on the basis of the Constitution and its Statute of Autonomy,” he said. The Generalitat of Catalonia accused him of adding more “petrol” to the fire. Just a week later, the then president of the government, Mariano Rajoy, activated article 155 of the Constitution to intervene in the autonomous community with the support of the PSOE.
It was the first time, apart from the Christmas Eve speeches, that the King addressed the Spaniards in a solemn televised message. His father had done this four times during his reign: on February 23; after the 9/11 attacks; when President Suárez died and when he announced his abdication. Don Juan Carlos also took advantage of the launch of the new website of the House of the King, in December 2011, to launch a message in which he expressed his opinion on the sovereign challenge in Catalonia: “In these circumstances, the worst thing we can do is divide forces, encourage dissent, pursue chimeras, deepen wounds. These are not the right times to scrutinize essences or to discuss whether it is greyhounds or hounds that threaten our model of coexistence. They are, for the Hon. on the contrary, the most appropriate for society’s decisive and united action in defense of the democratic and social model that we have all chosen.”
In response to the February 23, 1981 coup attempt, King Juan Carlos recorded a message that was broadcast on television at 1:15 a.m. on February 24, nearly seven hours after the shooting at Congress. It reads: “To avoid any possible confusion, I confirm that I have ordered the civil authorities and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to adopt all necessary measures to maintain the constitutional order in the current legality. The Crown cannot tolerate in any way actions or attitudes of people who seek to interrupt by force the democratic process that the Constitution voted by the Spanish people determined in its time through a referendum.”
On 11 March 2004, without making any reference to ETA, which the government of José María Aznar holds responsible for the attacks, King Juan Carlos once again addressed the nation to express his affection for the families of the victims and ask for “unity, firmness and serenity” in the face of terrorism.
Before the United Nations assembly
Nine years after his first speech as head of state at the UN, Felipe VI addressed the United Nations Assembly last September to solemnize Spain’s condemnation of the Israeli massacre in Gaza. “We cannot remain silent, nor turn the other way in the face of devastation, bombings, including of hospitals, schools or places of refuge; in the face of so many deaths among the civilian population; or in the face of famine and the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of people…, to what fate? These are aberrant acts that are the antipodes of everything this forum represents. They are repugnant to the human conscience and shame the entire international community,” he said. In 1986, in his first speech at the same forum, Don Juan Carlos expressed his “will to find a prompt solution to the problem of Gibraltar” and called for a resounding condemnation of terrorism.
