Felipe VI, ten years of the king who has not recovered the image of the monarchy

The political system that emerged from the Spanish Transition faltered 10 years ago. The top of the State, embodied in King Juan Carlos I, was at the center of a political and judicial storm of international scope due to hidden businesses that ended with his abdication and subsequent exile. The growing economic and social crisis that Spain was suffering since 2008 was joined by an institutional crisis that led to a succession in favor of his son, Felipe de Borbón. The objective: save the monarchy. A decade after his coronation, Felipe VI has stopped the bleeding, but has not managed to recover the image of the Royal House.

The few sociological data that there is (the CIS does not ask about it) suggest that the Spanish disapprove of the monarchical institution, they would prefer a referendum to decide the model of State and its heir, Leonor de Borbón, does not have, today, a majority support. Meanwhile, an incipient republican movement emerges with its sights set on the future, not the past. This Sunday a march was called in Madrid that does not refer to the Second Republic or to criticize that the transition from dictatorship to democracy did not break with the Head of State decided by Francisco Franco, but instead seeks to settle precisely on that dichotomy that They collect the polls. “Democracy, yes; monarchy, no”, will be the motto.