The mood of so-called Spaniards is measured by millions of barometers and market research, although they are forbidden to express their opinion about the King as if he were a god, as in Thailand. This armored door is ajar on Christmas Eve, taking advantage of the crowd’s drunken confusion. The numerical balance of citizen attention oscillates between alarming and destructive. The viewership of Felipe VI’s Christmas message decreased by four million viewers in two years, the monarchical decline being faster than the religious one. The dimming of expectations may be due to Juan Carlos I in the background this year, perhaps the talk would gain interest if Letizia read it.
Reading the Christmas message, King conveyed the feeling that he had little to add to what happened in 2022, while the arrogant far-right repeated the terms “Constitution” and “Europe” dozens of times, which we now “have to protect”. Felipe VI may have developed long-term tenant syndrome without stronger arguments than his stay-or-move routine. He warns against “split”, but the absence of a single talented Republican figure assures the status quo. Instead, if the second of his daughters finds a revolutionary Meghan at the palace, the monarch must watch out for the enemy within.
At the dawn of the transition, the “situation” in the barracks was examined with an obsession that could not stop the coup. The king’s “state of mind” stops him in institutional wear before he reaches the Constitutional. He devoted his passionate intensity to talking about Ukraine, which seemed to be an evasive tactic at home. When the stubborn audience realized that the palace carpet was not in order, their interest in the message faded. If the royal speech had a winner, it would be Sánchez in points. Voting is another matter.