The government in Madrid forces Felipe VI. to more transparency
“Spain’s king seems almost poor compared to other monarchies such as the Dutch and English, with his private fortune of just under 2.6 million euros, which has just been disclosed,” says the Spanish economist Javier Morillas. King Felipe VI By disclosing his finances, he is anticipating a decree by the Spanish government that will subject the monarch to an investigation by the Court of Auditors with immediate effect.
The king is thus being controlled more and more by the left-wing government, which, in view of the corruption scandals surrounding his father Juan Carlos I, who abdicated in 2014, is examining his speeches and determining his official agenda even more strictly than the protocol stipulates.
cleaning process
“In 2020, Felipe VI. with the renunciation of his father’s dubious legacy, a cleansing process in the royal family,” says Morillas. He also excluded his father from allocating tax money to the Spanish monarchy and avoided appearing with him. In the summer of 2020, Juan Carlos I went into exile in the United Arab Emirates because of the many rumors about his connection to Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn and millions of euros parked in Switzerland, from which he has not yet returned.
In the meantime, his companion of many years has started a campaign against him so as not to be swept up in the whirlpool of events: Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn puts pressure on the media, which they want to associate with his machinations, and leads a London riot judicial battle against the “emeritus” king.
So far, Juan Carlos I has been able to evade justice at home, which angers the government’s smaller Republican coalition partner, Podemos.
“It’s a dangerous situation, because we don’t really love our king, he’s just the lesser evil,” explains Spanish security expert Fernando Cocho, who deals with royal matters, explaining the sometimes heated debate about the monarchy in his country. The fear of another civil war on the way to a republic is real.
EPA/BallesterosThe founder of Transparency Internacional Spain, Jesús Lizcano Álvarez, believes that Felipe VI. has undoubtedly contributed to improving the image of the royal family, “but many financial details remain unclear, such as the real costs of maintaining the monarchy, which according to the website are estimated at 8.4 million euros annually. But they are much higher because they do not include, for example, the security forces and the transport of the royal family.
Stefanie Claudia Müller, Madrid