Spain's royal palace opens up to improve image (Feature)

By Sinikka Tarvainen Feb 27, 2010, 2:08 GMT

Madrid - Meetings between the Spanish king and government officials are usually kept under wraps - but recently the royal palace has embarked on a campaign of openness in an attempt to cement support for the monarchy.

Spaniards previously knew little about whom 72-year-old King Juan Carlos received at his office, with the Zarzuela palace only releasing information on high-level royal activities with photo opportunities.

However, the monarchy's position is deemed by some to have become weaker in recent years, and now 'Juan Carlos wants all Spaniards to know about his work,' as new palace communications chief Ramon Iribarren told the daily El Pais.

Media have consequently been able to report on the recent meetings held between the king and Economy Minister Elena Salgado, as well as with bank and trade union representatives.

Iribarren informed El Pais about the new media policy at the same time as the palace faced criticism over what was perceived as the king's interference in politics and over the divorce of Princess Elena, Juan Carlos' and Queen Sofia's eldest child.

The monarchy is not regarded as having particularly solid foundations in Spain, which has experienced two republics and the right-wing dictatorship of General Francisco Franco in the past 140 years.

Juan Carlos became king after the 1975 death of Franco, who had picked the prince to succeed him as head of state.

Initially seen as the dictator's puppet, the young king only won the full trust of his subjects after thwarting a coup attempt in 1981.

Spaniards are often described as juancarlists rather than monarchists. Even relatively minor incidents are easily interpreted as raising questions about the future of the monarchy after Juan Carlos is succeeded by his son Felipe.

Over the past few years, the biggest apparent challenge to the monarchy has come from separatists in the northern Catalan and Basque regions, who see the royals as representing the centralist Spanish state.

Small groups of Catalan demonstrators burned pictures of Juan Carlos and Sofia in 2007. A prominent Basque politician has also slammed the monarchy, and separatists from both regions have booed the royal couple at sports events.

The king and queen faced such protests at a basketball game in the Basque region earlier this week, with separatists whistling and shouting: 'Out! Out!'

The royal family earlier came under criticism over Sofia's negative comments on homosexual activism.

Elena's divorce - the first in the royal family - has also sparked controversy, as has the palace's alleged speediness in stripping her former husband of a public role.

Juan Carlos has repeatedly been accused of meddling in politics, though Spanish politicians also profess admiration of his mediating skills.

In 2007, the king told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to keep quiet after Chavez harshly criticized a former Spanish prime minister at an Ibero-American summit.

The king's comment to Chavez, 'why don't you shut up,' became a catch phrase while the government struggled to prevent it from damaging bilateral relations.

More recently, Juan Carlos has expressed concern over Spain's slowness in recovering from its deepest recession in more than 50 years, urging the political parties to enter a pact against the crisis.

The king's talks with Salgado, trade union and bank representatives - all of whom he met separately - were seen as serving that end.

But Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega sought to define the limits of royal power, pointing out that seeking agreements against the crisis was 'the exclusive task of the government.'

Gaspar Llamazares from the far-left party Izquierda Unida agreed with Vega. But Juan Carlos won a surprise ally in Josep Lluis Carod-Rovira, the Catalan regional deputy prime minister who belongs to the republican separatist party ERC.

The king's call for political unity against the economic crisis was 'absolutely indispensable,' Carod-Rovira said, explaining he had an 'almost cordial' personal relationship with Juan Carlos despite his opposition to the monarchy.