Jim Lawley

Juan Carlos’ exile may not save the Spanish monarchy

Former king Juan Carlos I of Spain in 2010 (photo: Getty)

In the ‘bad bank’ model, a bank protects itself by dumping its toxic assets onto a second, newly-created institution. By taking the problems off its books, the first bank hopes to restore its reputation and financial health so that it will be able to carry on business as usual.

The Spanish monarchy has just carried out an analogous operation. The 82-year-old former king, Juan Carlos I, who reigned for 38 years until his abdication in 2014, has gone into exile because, as he explains in his farewell letter, of the ‘public repercussions of certain episodes in my private life’.

The ‘episodes’ have included ongoing investigations into a gift of £77m he is alleged to have received from the previous king of Saudi Arabia. The hope is that by leaving Spain now Juan Carlos will protect the Spanish monarchy, allowing the present king, Felipe VI, to distance himself from his father’s rapidly declining reputation.

Juan Carlos’ lawyer has made it clear that his leaving the country is in no sense an attempt to escape justice and he stands ready to cooperate with the authorities in any way they consider necessary. Even so, it is unclear at the moment if his voluntary exile will achieve the intended effect of safeguarding the dynasty. While the larger political parties have signalled their loyalty to the monarchy, which they regard as a key element in the country’s democratic constitution, Podemos, the junior partner in the coalition government, has wasted no time in renewing its criticisms of the institution.

Shortly after the news broke Podemos’ parliamentary spokesman tweeted a series of rhetorical questions, asking ‘What does this [the ex-king going into exile] solve? What problem does it fix? … In what way does it improve our democracy?’ Predictably, other small left-wing parties and Catalan nationalists have been equally critical.

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