By Olivia Crellin, Jeannette Neumann, Christopher Bjork and Bjork
MADRID--As news of King Juan Carlos' abdication spread across
Spain, so did calls for a debate on the future of the monarchy,
which polls show has lost support after a series of scandals in
recent years.
Two small leftist political coalitions that did well in last
week's European Parliament election said the once-revered House of
Bourbon is outmoded. They joined other leftist groups in calling
for rallies in several cities Monday evening in support of a
referendum on whether the monarch should remain head of state.
Spain's two dominant parties--the conservative Popular Party and
the Socialists--rallied behind the Royal House.
"If Felipe of Bourbon wants to be head of state, he should stand
for election" said Pablo Iglesias, the head of Podemos, a political
upstart that garnered more than a million votes in the May 25
election. "Spaniards need to have the capacity to decide their
future," he said in an interview with Spanish television station
Cuatro.
María Dolores de Cospedal, the secretary-general of the
governing Popular Party, pledged the party's allegiance to the
crown and to the future King Felipe and said her party would assure
a smooth transition. Emilio Botín, who leads Spain's largest bank
Banco Santander SA, was among many business leaders who came out in
support of the royals, speaking to Spanish news agency EFE about
the "extraordinary legacy" left by Juan Carlos and Felipe's
"capacity and dedication to Spain, which we know and admire."
While King Juan Carlos is perceived as a key figure in Spain's
transition from dictatorship to democracy and has kept up support
among Spaniards who lived through that period, many young Spaniards
say they don't identify with the monarchy.
The king's popularity fell after his younger daughter, Princess
Cristina, and her husband became targets of a judicial
investigation into tax fraud and misuse of public funds. Both deny
any wrongdoing, and neither has been charged in the continuing
probe.
By abdicating, the king is "scoring a lot of points" with
Spanish youth who have been hit hard by six years of economic
downturn and high unemployment and feel the country's political
institutions no longer respond to their needs, said Luis Rodríguez
Avello, a 33-year-old environmental engineering consultant in
Madrid.
Juan Carlos's 2012 luxury elephant-hunting trip in Botswana,
which came to light only after the king broke his hip there,
hardened that perception, Mr. Avello said.
The king apologized but many Spaniards didn't forget. Barbara
Prummer, a 20-year-old fine arts student from Madrid, said the
royals "do not represent the best of Spain, with all the corruption
and hunting elephants. They think they can do what they like, that
they are superior to us."
Some think Crown Prince Felipe, 46 years old, is different. The
prince projects an "image of a modern monarchy" because of his
youth and because he married for love, said Rafael Madridejos, 41,
who works in the textile business in Madrid. Felipe will rejuvenate
the image of the Spanish monarchy because he hasn't been tainted by
scandals, he said. "He has completely distanced himself."
Alejandro Arjona, 33, an attendant on Spain's high-speed rail
network known as AVE, said the king is leaving a positive legacy
for his son to follow. "There's no Spanish president who has the
charisma that the king and the prince have as an image of Spain,"
Mr. Arjona said.
Many students rushing through the Complutense University campus
in Madrid on their way to exams mirrored the more positive opinion
about Felipe, even if many thought the monarchy was now irrelevant
in Spain.
"He will bring a new face to Spain, a younger model with renewed
energy, " said Irene Isidro de la Nava, a 20-year old law student.
"He's already recognized for his work and how he has helped his
father with royal business."
In recent polling by Spain's sociological institute CIS, Prince
Felipe got higher approval ratings than his father did.
But for Miguel Domenech, 30, the idea of a modern monarchy is an
oxymoron, regardless of who leads it. The Spanish monarchy "is an
obsolete institution," said Mr. Domenech, unlocking his bicycle
outside of a Madrid employment office. Felipe is "more of the
same."
Mr. Domenech said his parents and other Spaniards over 50
appreciate the king as someone who in the late 1970s "really helped
the country become a democratic state." On the other hand, he said,
younger Spaniards, who don't remember General Francisco Franco's
dictatorship, "would prefer there were no king."
Fermín Carvajal, 30, who owns a hamburger restaurant in Toledo,
an hour from Madrid, agrees.
Felipe should step down because the Spanish monarchy is
antiquated, Mr. Carvajal said; if he doesn't, he should focus
attention on the country's 26% unemployment rate, one of the
highest in Europe, and work with Spanish companies to step up
hiring.
Ilan Brat contributed to this article.
Write to Jeannette Neumann at jeannette.neumann@wsj.com and
Christopher Bjork at christopher.bjork@wsj.com
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