King hails united Spain

King Felipe VI yesterday spoke against independence in his address to the European Parliament. “I am European because I am Spanish,” he said. Although the king did not mention Catalonia, his speech could have been written by Spanish minister, José García-Margallo, as it made the same unionist argument as the PP, Ciutadans and PSOE parties in the 27-S electoral campaign. “Europe has been built on the basis of adding rather than deducting, of uniting rather than dividing and the ability to share and be supportive,” he said during the event in Strasbourg, on the 30th anniversary of Spain joining the Union.

Despite the pro-independence majority in the Catalan parliament, Felipe VI assured the EU chamber that it could “count on a united Spain proud of its diversity, solidarity.” The king also praised the Spanish constitution as the “great agreement” that “protects the peoples of Spain in exercising their diverse cultures and traditions, languages, and institutions.” The king spoke exclusively in Spanish, without making any gestures to the other 27 member states (Eurochamber president, Martin Schulz, made the effort to change from German into Spanish), and he read out the pages of his speech without improvising. “The democratic Spain of recent decades has been based on a solid and sincere will for understanding and agreement between Spanish citizens” he added.

Even though Strasbourg is the self-proclaimed home of European democracy, the EMPs attending were not given the opportunity to respond, unlike the debate held by Angela Merkel and François Hollande in the same chamber hours later. However, there were many empty seats in the chamber, some out of protest. For example, the Esquerra Unida EMPs abandoned the event, but only after leaving behind a republican flag on their empty seats. Podemos party representatives stayed to listen to the king's address but did not applaud afterwards. On leaving, Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias criticised Felipe, saying: “the king shouldn't interfere in issues that have to be democratically solved by the citizens.”