King's Christmas speech focuses heavily on Constitutional rights

KING Felipe VI's annual Christmas Eve speech once again included a covert appeal to secessionist politicians, as well as raising concerns about young adults' struggle to afford housing and violence against women.

The monarch's 10^th festive speech since he ascended to the throne following his father, King Juan Carlos I's abdication, opened with his now-habitual references to the Spanish Constitution and a subtle reminder that without it, 'there is no freedom, there is no peace'.

Spain's Magna Carta, drawn up partly by Felipe VI's father as a guarantee the country would never again find itself in the grip of a dictatorship, establishes the autonomous governments of the nation's 17 semi-federal regions and two city-States of Ceuta and Melilla, whilst outlawing any action that 'threatens the unity' of the land.

This means the attempts made in 2017 to declare Catalunya an independent country were illegal, although fervid support for secession continues among the regional parties national president Pedro Sánchez was forced to strike deals with in order to take up office following the elections.

As a result, socialist (PSOE) leader Sánchez is in the difficult position of having to appease the wishes of secessionists without infringing the provisions of the Constitution, and leaving him open to criticism by the right-wing opposition.

The Monarchy is required to be politically neutral and, for reasons of protocol, must never state an opinion in public about the governing of the nation, meaning an appeal to 'everyone' to 'respect the Constitution' is as near as Felipe VI can get to showing his disapproval of attempts at secession.

But the Constitution – signed on December 6, 1978 and now 45 years old – goes far beyond independence politics, as King Felipe recalled its true purpose: That of 'allowing us to safeguard our way of life'.

“It guarantees and protects the rights of the people of Spain to think and express themselves freely and defend their views provided they respect others in doing so, receive an education, have a job, be protected from illness, access housing, form a family, access social assistance, and have a dignified retirement,” the Monarch recalled.

“Outside the Constitution, there is no democracy and our coexistence is impossible; there are no freedoms, only impositions; there is no law, only arbitrary rule. Outside the Constitution, there is no peace, there is no freedom,” he stated early on in his 11-minute discourse.

Leading on from the rights conferred on people living in Spain under the Magna Carta, King Felipe expressed his concern over 'financial and social difficulties that affect the daily lives of many residents'.

These 'difficulties' are mainly related to 'employment, healthcare, quality of education, the price of basic services' and 'the unacceptable violence against women', along with 'in the case of young people, access to housing'.

Warning that 'division' in society 'has been the cause of many mistakes in our history' and 'opened wounds, fractured personal bonds and distanced people from each other', the King urged the public to 'avoid the germ of discordance ever becoming installed within us'.

“We should consider it a moral duty of us all, because we cannot allow this to happen,” he stressed.

Unity is 'the key' to the country's being able to 'successfully facing the serious and complex challenges of the future which Spain is already dealing with today', said the Monarch, who called for 'responsibility' among 'all State institutions' in the quest for the 'greater good'.

As is usually the case, Felipe VI gave his speech from the Salón de Audiencias, or conference room, at the main Royal residence – the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid – with the flags of Spain and the European Union in the background.

This year, the Monarch's desk featured a framed photo of his eldest daughter and immediate heir to the throne, Princess Leonor, in her formal act of swearing allegiance to the Constitution on the day of her 18^th birthday, October 31, 2023.

HRH Leonor started her three-year fast-track military training this September, only weeks after finishing sixth-form college in Wales.

She will spend the rest of the academic year with the Armed Forces, before moving onto the Navy and, finally, the Air Force, in preparation for the day she eventually becomes Queen of Spain and, with it, automatically the highest-ranking officer in the military.