Long Live The King
I woke up to the news that Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias had announced his abdication of the Spanish throne to his son Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y de Grecia. This sudden announcement caught everyone by surprise. The very laws of the constitutional monarchy lacked procedural rules to govern how an abdication occurs and the process for crowning a new sovereign. In a tremendous show of political necessity the Spanish parliament was able to draft and enact the necessary legislation in one day.
When I arrived in Spain in 1985 I got my first taste of royalty when I exchange $100 of American dollars into Spanish pesetas. While our bills had faces of Washington, Lincoln, Hamilton and Franklin every single bill denomination carried the face of the king. These were the days before the European Community that came to become the present European Union. Spain was working very hard amongst the international community to reclaim a long-lost prestige due to the horrific totalitarian control manifested by Francisco Franco.
The path toward democracy teetered and Spain faced an uncertain future. A critical moment during this era of uncertainty occurred when Franco supporters stormed the Spanish political center in an attempted coup d'etat. The rebels were unable to sustain their efforts and failed to mobilize popular sentiment in favor of their wishes to return to fascist tyranny. Until then, Juan Carlos had been untested as the handpicked successor to the Spanish leadership. But his presence and demands that the insubordinate military cease and desist their treasonous acts.
The calm reassurance that emanated from his Royal Highness inspired a needy nation and united disparate factions of a country in desperate need of healing after decades of difficult dictatorship. Over the next thirty years, Don Juan Carlos would provide a focal point that allowed a nation to work together in spite of their deeply held popular differences. The regional allegiances felt by natives of Euskadi (Basque Country), Catalunya, and Galicia ever threatened to divide the country into fourths, but much credit belongs to this confident and convincing king that Spain has remained a united, although sometimes contentious, nation.
Recent years have seen some difficult situations for the king. During the worst economic crisis in living memory the king was found on an extravagant African elephant hunt. The extravagance might have been enough alone, but he happened to be accompanied by his German mistress. With the royal image reeling he also had to deal with the scandal of his son-in-law embroiled in his own high finance and money laundering scandal. His own daughter, Cristina Federica Victoria Antonia de la Santísima Trinidad de Borbón y de Grecia, has recently been charged with involvement in the scandal. On top of all of these financial and personal scandals the king has suffered some very real health setbacks.
Whether abdication is a graceful exit or a thoughtful preparation, I proudly affirm, ¡Viva el Rey!
When I arrived in Spain in 1985 I got my first taste of royalty when I exchange $100 of American dollars into Spanish pesetas. While our bills had faces of Washington, Lincoln, Hamilton and Franklin every single bill denomination carried the face of the king. These were the days before the European Community that came to become the present European Union. Spain was working very hard amongst the international community to reclaim a long-lost prestige due to the horrific totalitarian control manifested by Francisco Franco.
The path toward democracy teetered and Spain faced an uncertain future. A critical moment during this era of uncertainty occurred when Franco supporters stormed the Spanish political center in an attempted coup d'etat. The rebels were unable to sustain their efforts and failed to mobilize popular sentiment in favor of their wishes to return to fascist tyranny. Until then, Juan Carlos had been untested as the handpicked successor to the Spanish leadership. But his presence and demands that the insubordinate military cease and desist their treasonous acts.
The calm reassurance that emanated from his Royal Highness inspired a needy nation and united disparate factions of a country in desperate need of healing after decades of difficult dictatorship. Over the next thirty years, Don Juan Carlos would provide a focal point that allowed a nation to work together in spite of their deeply held popular differences. The regional allegiances felt by natives of Euskadi (Basque Country), Catalunya, and Galicia ever threatened to divide the country into fourths, but much credit belongs to this confident and convincing king that Spain has remained a united, although sometimes contentious, nation.
Recent years have seen some difficult situations for the king. During the worst economic crisis in living memory the king was found on an extravagant African elephant hunt. The extravagance might have been enough alone, but he happened to be accompanied by his German mistress. With the royal image reeling he also had to deal with the scandal of his son-in-law embroiled in his own high finance and money laundering scandal. His own daughter, Cristina Federica Victoria Antonia de la Santísima Trinidad de Borbón y de Grecia, has recently been charged with involvement in the scandal. On top of all of these financial and personal scandals the king has suffered some very real health setbacks.
Whether abdication is a graceful exit or a thoughtful preparation, I proudly affirm, ¡Viva el Rey!
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