Juan Carlos I complains against everyone and becomes the main enemy of the monarchy.

MadridJuan Carlos I had become almost a problem of the past for the Moncloa and the Zarzuela Palaces, but his reappearance as a triple plaintiff puts him back in the spotlight. Furthermore, he sets the stage for the year that commemorates the 50th anniversary of Franco's death and the beginning of his mandate as head of state.

The first surprise was the lawsuit against Miguel Ángel Revilla, former president of Cantabria, for having "seriously slandered" him in statements to the media between 2022 and 2025. The court has set a conciliation meeting between the two parties for May 16, and if there is no agreement, legal proceedings will be initiated. The emeritus king is claiming 50,000 euros from the president of the Regionalist Party of Cantabria for allegedly violating his right to honor. Why has Juan Carlos made this decision now?

It is even more disconcerting that he is initiating action against Corinna Larsen, his former lover, and against the Swiss lawyer Dante Canonica, who had run the Panamanian foundation Lucum, through which Juan Carlos concealed the 64.8 million euros he received as a gift in 2008. It would seem inappropriate to start such a delicate melon for the emeritus himself: it has been proven that this money was hidden in the Spanish Treasury, and its origin has not been confirmed. Neither the Swiss nor the Spanish prosecutor's office has been able to determine whether it came from illegal commissions linked to the construction of the high-speed rail line in Mecca.

The Swiss prosecutor's office has already investigated –and exonerated– Corinna, Canonica, and Arturo Fasana—the former manager of the emeritus's estate abroad—for that money, which Juan Carlos gave to his then-mistress in 2012. Herein lies the conflict: Larsen has always maintained that it was an irrevocable donation, and the former monarch has never managed to get it returned. With the help of the former director of the CNI, Juan Carlos initiated an extortion scheme that eventually crystallized in a harassment lawsuit that was dismissed by the British courts in October 2023.

Media in Madrid in contact with the emeritus's entourage explain that, behind the reasons, he should provide his daughters, Cristina and Elena, with a financial cushion. A few months ago The Confidential He explained that the three had set up a foundation in which assets could be managed. Beyond that, what connects all of these moves by Juan Carlos, even if they involve stirring up reprehensible attitudes and even criminal if it had not been for their immunity, it is precisely the impunity he enjoys. Removed as he is from family and public life, miles away from his country, he believes he has nothing to lose and plenty of money to earn. There are voices in Congress who see this as an act of intimidation, a "Bourbon whim" of wanting to die while protecting his reputation. In 2025, the Spanish government and Felipe VI will celebrate fifty years of parliamentary monarchy without their main enemy.

How will the Spanish government comply with the military spending demanded by NATO? It's not yet known, but what is certain is that María Jesús Montero is working on it. When she left the plenary session on Thursday and chatted with journalists in the courtyard of Congress, a document titled "Report on funding in 2025 to achieve 2% for security and defense according to the NATO metric" was visible in her folder.

The book is on display in the Parliament's library window. Making politics in the empire of the self (Eumo Editorial, 2025), by Xavier Godàs. Could it be a barb at his rival in the ERC primaries, Oriol Junqueras? What it explains is how individualistic society has changed political action: if it was previously driven by social groups, now it originates from individuals, with the paradigmatic example of Greta Thunberg with climate change.