After signing Felipe González, now the right wants the king

The soap opera about the king's return has already turned Madrid's newspapers into unofficial spokespersons for the different actors involved. The government, the PP, the Zarzuela, and Juan Carlos are sending each other messages in public for the astonished reader, who is faced with contradictory headlines here and there. El País (that is, the PSOE government) finds it somewhat amusing, and that's why it headlines with a strange demand from the emeritus. "Juan Carlos I subordinates his return to Spain to residing in the Zarzuela," they write. And they immediately add a subtitle according to which "the Royal Household points out that he should also move his tax domicile." Oh, you want to come? Then pay like the subjects. It's a condition designed for him to disqualify himself. The key is given to us by this other headline from El Mundo: "Juan Carlos does not receive an allowance and channels his income privately." It's an opaque formulation, but one that any reader can correctly decode: there is a network of friends who finance him (and it's relevant to ask if there are any quid pro quo) and on this flow of money, there is a fiscalization, let's say, tenuous. The newspaper sells the exclusive of an interview ("I will end up winning," says this curious martyr from his golden exile) and rejects that his end or a situation of solitude is spoken of. By God, or by Allah, I wouldn't bet against the second of these terms.

Why this interest in the king's return? The right has tried to instrumentalize Felipe VI in its favor, making him appear as a necessary savior in the face of a state in decomposition due to the "sanchista" virus, but the operation has not worked out for them. Having the old king back, and moreover rehabilitated, allows them to add a symbolic asset that especially favors conservative positions. They already have Felipe González rowing for the cause, but they still lack this vintage collectible card.