The challenge to Pedro Sánchez hidden in the memoirs of Juan Carlos I

ParisIt is unusual for a king—even an emeritus one—to speak in the first person about his life and reign. But it is even less common for him to speak about politics, and to do so criticizing a government that is still in power. Juan Carlos I does so in Reconciliation, his memoir published this Wednesday In France. King Felipe VI's father reviews historical events, from the end of the Franco regime to his current "exile" in Abu Dhabi, and for the first time publicly criticizes Pedro Sánchez's government, which he accuses of imposing its will over his own wishes, even now that he lives in retirement thousands of kilometers from Spain.

Juan Carlos I does not hide his resentment towards Sánchez's administration, which he emphasizes governs with "the radical left" and Catalan separatists. The emeritus king accuses him of weakening democracy every time he has supposedly criticized the figure of the king. "When the current government discredits me, it weakens our Constitution, calls into question the progress of the democratic transition and our reconciliation," he states.

The emeritus king also accuses Sánchez's government of pressuring Felipe VI to withdraw his allowance and of being behind the rift between them. According to Juan Carlos I, excluding him, far from saving the Crown, eroded it. "I believe that the Royal Household, by excluding me, weakens the monarchy. I fear this represents a crack that will break the foundations, with the risk of shaking everything at the slightest storm," he writes. And he adds in the following paragraph: "The current government seems pleased."

Unity of Spain

Juan Carlos I also warns that the monarchy is what guarantees the stability and unity of Spain in the face of separatist impulses. "The monarchy, as guardian of democratic values, ensures the stability, permanence, and unity of Spain, and is indispensable in our country, which has a tendency toward division."

Juan Carlos I also harbors a strong resentment toward the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, for not having condemned a 2018 public consultation organized by a citizens' platform that asked for a preference between monarchy and republic. "The head of government, or his spokesperson, did not condemn it, which is tantamount to authorizing it," he states. "Today, ministers can openly denigrate the Crown without any consequences," writes the King Emeritus.

Juan Carlos also points the finger at the justice system. He speaks bitterly of the decision by the Attorney General of Spain between 2020 and 2022, Dolores Delgado, to open an investigation into Juan Carlos I for alleged commissions related to the awarding of the AVE high-speed rail contract to Mecca to Spanish companies and the existence of a €10 million account in the name of the former head of the head of the head of the head. According to the emeritus king, the former Minister of Justice "turned the judicial investigations into a witch hunt, a moral judgment that affected my entire reign and my political actions." However, all the investigations against the former monarch have been filed by the public prosecutor's office itself.