Annus horribilis for the Spanish Royal Family

I don't believe the Spanish Royal Family has been in the news this much since 2004, the year Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia got married . Unfortunately, this year it's been mostly bad news. The latest - Princess Elena has separated from her husband, Duke Jaime de Marichalar. This is the first official separation of a royal couple in Spanish history.
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The bad news began early in the year with Prince Felipe's sister-in-law committing suicide in February. In July, Felipe and Letiza's became the brunt of jokes when the satirical magazine El Jueves put a cartoon of the royal couple having sex on its front cover. In October a few Catalan nationalists who want independence from Spain burned the King's photograph at a public rally in the town of Girona during a royal visit. Then in early November, Morocco temporarily recalled its ambassador from Madrid to protest the King and Queen's trip to Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish possessions (usually referred to as "enclaves") on the North African coast.
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Of course, the biggest headlines were caused by King Juan Carlos' telling President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, "Why don't you shut up?!" at the recent Ibero-American Summit -- and the resulting tension between Spain and Venezuela continues to make news over a week later. I think the Economist described the incident well in an article entitled, "The king was not amused":
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"It is a routine. Every time that Latin American leaders get together at a regional summit, the headlines are stolen by Venezuela's outspoken leftist leader, Hugo Chávez. But at the Ibero-American summit in Chile's capital, Santiago, Mr Chávez got some help from an unusual quarter, Spain's King Juan Carlos."
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The YouTube video of the incident became immensely popular in Spain. Within a day or so there were novelty songs playing on the radio, t-shirts emblazoned with the quote and mobile phones ringing out with loops of the king shouting, "¿Por qué no te callas?"..."¿Por qué no te callas?"..."¿Por qué no te callas?" Apparently there is even a paso doble version!

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Over a week later the incident is still making news and a ripple effect is being felt. To paraphrase the Los Angeles Times, the king's words seem to have started a battle royal.
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The funny thing is that this violation of protocol by the usually calm and controlled king may have actually increased his popularity at home. Initially the Spanish press generally supported him. With the diplomatic tension continuing and Chavez threatening to review Spanish businesses operating in Venezuela, more editorials are reflecting on the possible costs of the king's words. Still, from what I can tell many Spaniards seem to believe that, as impolitic as it may have been, the king was simply standing up to a boorish demagogue and probably expressing what many of the summit's attendees wanted to say.
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There is still a month and a half to go until 2008, so who knows what else may befall the Spanish royal family before the end of the year. Whatever else happens, I think the king's annual Christmas speech may be a little more interesting than usual. I'll definitely tune in for it.
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Chao amig@s,
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Carloz

Spanish Royal Family Cartoon Censorship Controversy Continues

The Spanish Royal Family Cartoon Censorship Controversy not only continues, but is becoming a bit of a political football.
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The secretary of the Spanish Socialist Party, José Blanco, demanded that Basque Nationalist Party Senator Iñaki Anasagasti apologize for referring to the royal family as a "bunch of vagabonds" in an article on his blog about the forced withdrawal of last week's El Jueves magazine.
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Anasagasti said the real scandals were things like the royal family's annual two month summer vacations and the King Juan Carlos' recent launch of a new yacht. This boat was the 14th one the king has named Bribón, a name he and his businessman friend José Cuis both use for their yachts.
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Blanco, on the other hand, expressed his own "high respect" for the the Royal Family saying he considered, "their work and activities to be very positive for Spain." Although the Socialist leader brought the matter up in a speech in the Spanish Congress of Deputies, he passed the "pelota" on whether or not charges should be brought against Anasagasti, saying he was not the one who made such decisions. (Does that sound like doublespeak, or what?)
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In other developments:
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El Jueves' web site collapsed last week due to all of the traffic it was receiving.
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Apparently copies of the withdrawn magazine have been selling on EBay for thousands of euros.
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This week's issue printed a "rectification" with a cartoon on its cover depicting Crown Prince Felipe as a bumble bee and Princess Letizia as a flower. The headline read, "Correction: This is the cover we meant to publish!"
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The Government prosecutor in the case decided that while charges against cartoonist Guillermo Torres and writer Manel Fontevilla will stand, they will only face a fine if the case goes to court.
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And today the magazine published another commentary on it's web, which I've translated below:
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"After the monumental mess caused by the forced withdrawal of our magazine; after reading hundreds of sensible articles on the limits to freedom of speech, that seem only to apply to us; after so many civilly active journalists have said we are "coarse" and so many other journalists (?) who bottom-feed on trash-TV have declared us "gross"; after seeing how "progressive" people in Government danced around the issue while an opportunistic opposition party member feigned defending us (almost to the point that we feared finding [Popular Party spokesperson Eduardo] Zaplana chained to the door of our editorial offices in a plea for freedom of speech!); after so many editorials reviling the withdrawal, not because it was unjust, but because it was a counterproductive measure; after hearing that we were a decadent magazine (number 9 in Spain, with 475.0000 readers, according to the latest official figures), after so much nonsense and so much bla,bla,bla, one thing is clearer than ever: El Jueves is only a modest magazine of satirical humor – we do not aspire to more –, but it has the best readers in the world. We are very, very proud of you. Thanks to you all."

Crude Cartoon Controversy or Freedom of Speech Challenge?

Defenders of freedom of the press are up in arms about the forced withdrawal of a national publication. Spain's Supreme Court ruled today that a crude cartoon of Crown Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia having sex was an insult to the royal family and the people they reign over.

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Judge Juan del Olmo ordered authorities to seize all copies of the magazine running the cartoon, as well as the mold used to print it. He also demanded that the publishers provide the name of the cartoonist for possible prosecution. Apparently slandering or defaming the Spanish Royal Family is illegal and punishable by up to two years in prison.

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The cartoon appeared on the cover of the current issue of El Jueves, a satirical publication. In it, the cartoon-Prince says, "You know, if you get pregnant, this will be the closest thing I'll have done to work in my life."

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Aside from targeting the Royal Family, who are supported by taxpayer money, the cartoon is also aimed at Prime Minister Zapatero's recently inaugurated program to pay 2,500 euros to the parents of newborns and newly adopted children.

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"You've noticed the elections are coming, ZP! 2500€ per child," is splashed above the cartoon.

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The complete name of the publication is "El Jueves, la revista que sale los Miércoles." ("Thursday, the magazine that comes out on Wednesdays.") Similar to Mad Magazine or National Lampoon, it was first published in 1977, two years after the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco died. This is the first time an issue has been withdrawn. It is irreverent, popular and never subtle.

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On its web site today El Jueves posted a sample of the cartoon (as did just about every newspaper in Spain, except for the right-leaning ABC) along with a statement that I've translated below:

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July 20, 2007?
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We are writing this note on Friday, July 20, 2007, at 7pm. Our editorial offices are filled with media representatives asking about the banning of our magazine. We do not know how to respond to them. El Jueves has published dozens, hundreds of cartoons of the Royal family -- and of politicians, celebrities, ETA and anything that moves. We have even published a book, TOUCHING THE BORBONS, a 350 page compilation of the most amusing of these cartoons.

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We are graphic humorists and we work fully aware of our charge, what the readers expect of us, which is to explore the limits of freedom of speech. We can actually accept that on occasion we may be excessive. It's part of the job. If we go too far, there are the courts but...banning? The police inspecting newsstands throughout the country and pulling our magazine? Are we really writing this on July 20, 2007?

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What do you think? / ¿Que crees?