the king Felipe VI This Friday, he claimed the spirit of agreement and reconciliation that made the Transition possible in Spain in the face of current times, in which “disagreement is expressed with tension”. For the monarch, the protagonists of that historical period – among whom he has cited his father, Juan Carlos I – opted for “respect over contempt and the search for agreement over imposition.”
This was stated by Felipe VI during the act of imposition of the Necklace of the Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece to his mother, the queen sofiato the former president of the Government Felipe González, as well as the fathers of the Constitution Miguel Herrero y Miquel Rocawhich took place in the Royal Palace of Madrid within the framework of the 50 years of the reinstatement of the monarchy in Spain.
In his speech, the king pointed out that the Transition “was not perfect”but has stated that it would be “unfair” to value her “only for what she omitted”. The head of state considered that “the right thing” was done in the circumstances of that moment, prioritizing “reconciliation, stability and the creation of a common framework, which is so necessary.”
“In times when disagreement is expressed with tension,” stated Felipe VI in the presence of both the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchezas well as the leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo“looking back at that period can help us, not to idealize it, but to remember its method: the word versus the shout, respect versus contemptthe search for agreement in the face of imposition”.
Princess Leonor, Infanta Sofía, Queen Letizia and Queen Sofía talk at the Royal Palace José Oliva / Europa Press
“Mutual respect”
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The Transition, he said, “was not a simple, nor spontaneous process” but “gradual, uncertain, with risks and open in its results, in which each step was preceded by conversations, pacts and concessions”, continued Felipe VI, who considers that it was possible thanks to the existence of “a firm basis of mutual respect.” “In a society marked by decades of repression and divisionsthat was a revolutionary political gesture,” Don Felipe highlighted.
That generation, the king stated, “had the enormous courage to assume its responsibility and commit to what Spain needed at that historical moment,” reconciling “the desire for change with the existing legal orderfinding in the reform the path to democracy.” Therefore, what its protagonists achieved was not only a legal and political achievement, “but also a civic and moral one,” he added.
The monarch has paid tribute in his speech to those who in those years demonstrated that “responsibility, respect, harmony and dialogue can transform a country; and that, even with the vile scourge of terrorist and extremist violencethat course was not going to change.”Their victims, fallen for our democracy, for freedom and the rule of lawshould never be absent from our collective memory,” he added.
Former presidents José María Aznar and Mariano Rajoy greet the Royal Family EFE/ Fernando Villar
The monarchy, guarantor of stability
Don Felipe has also highlighted the role of the Crown during the Transition as “backbone institution and guarantor of stability” after the death of Franco, whose “firm will” contributed “decisively to opening the path to democracy in our country.”
At this point, he has remembered his father’s speech, Juan Carlos I, in his proclamation, on November 22, 1975. “The monarchy then assumed a clearly active role: it integrated all Spaniards at a decisive moment and called, as the king stated, to act with ‘generosity’, ‘high-mindedness’ and the will to reach an ‘effective consensus of national harmony,'” he assured. An “initial impulse” that turned the institution into “key catalyst that allowed us to channel and guide the process of democratic transformation”.
According to the head of state, the Crown contributed at that time “the stability necessary to strengthen the international presence of our countrycontributing to consolidating the image of a serious, committed and reliable democracy, capable of establishing lasting ties in Europe, Latin America and the Mediterranean, and open to the world.”
Recognition of Queen Sofia’s “exemplary service”
After his speech, Don Felipe proceeded to impose the insignia on the new knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece, starting with his mother, Queen Sofía, who has highlighted her “exemplary service” to Spain and the Crown, especially their support for Juan Carlos I “in his correct and early commitment to democratic opening and freedoms.”
“Thank you for your commitment sustained for decades, still today, and exercised with a deep sense of duty,” the monarch indicated to his mother. “Your closeness and involvement in social, cultural and humanitarian spheres has contributed to strengthening lasting ties with several generations of Spaniards,” highlighted the king, who added that the figure of Queen Sofia “It is also part of the emotional memory of democratic Spain“.
Doña Sofía received the badge excitedly, with a smiling gesture and among the applause of the attendees, including the Queen Letiziathe princess of Asturias and the Infanta Sofia; the president of the Government, Pedro Sanchez; the president of Congress, Francina Armengol; the president of the Senate, Pedro Rollan; the president of the Constitutional Court, Cándido Conde-Pumpido; and the president of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary, Isabel Perello. The leader of the Popular Party also attended, Alberto Núñez Feijóo; the former presidents José María Aznar y Mariano Rajoyseveral Government ministers and the vast majority of the regional presidents.
Doña Sofía greets her granddaughters under the gaze of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez EFE/JJ Guillén
Juan Carlos I has been the great absentee at the event, to which he has not been invited. As Zarzuela has pointed out, Juan Carlos I resigned from participating in institutional events in 2019, a year before his departure from Spain in August 2020, when he moved his residence to Abu Dhabi. Don Juan Carlos has been invited to attend private family meal which will take place on Saturday at the El Pardo Palace, as happened in 2023, on the occasion of Princess Leonor’s swearing-in of the Constitution: the emeritus was not present at the events that took place in Congress and the Royal Palace but was present at the private celebration in El Pardo.
The State Attorney General has not attended the event either, Alvaro Garcia Ortizafter the sentence of two years of disqualification and the fine of 7,200 euros for revealing confidential data, advanced on Thursday by the Supreme Court.
Miguel Herrero, after receiving the Golden Fleece: “It represents the recognition of a collective task”
Tribute to González and the fathers of the Constitution
Felipe VI has also imposed the Golden Fleece on the former socialist president Felipe Gonzálezwhose election in 1982 consolidated political alternation, demonstrating “the maturity of a democracy.” The king recalled that 40 years ago, also in the Royal Palace, González signed the Treaty of Accession of Spain to the European Communities, promoting “one of the greatest stages of economic, institutional and social modernization of the country.”
The king gives the Golden Fleece to Felipe González
To the fathers of the Constitution Miguel Herrero de Miñón and Miquel Roca Junyent thanked them for making possible the great national pact that shaped our democratic coexistence: “At a decisive moment for Spain, they knew convert the need for consensus into an authentic civic virtue“There is an effective guide to building a framework of freedoms that has endured for more than four decades.”
Miquel Roca, after receiving the Golden Fleece: “We made words the way to agreement and consensus”
Since its proclamation, on June 19, 2014, Felipe de Borbón had only awarded the Golden Fleece to his eldest daughter and heir to the Spanish Crown, Leonor de Borbón: it was in 2015, when the princess was 10 years old, although the imposition did not take place until 2018. In turn, Felipe VI received it from his father in 1981.
