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Felipe Is Proclaimed New King of Spain In Spain, Soccer Team’s Ouster Casts Pall Over New King’s Arrival
(about 5 hours later)
PARIS — Spain’s new king, Felipe VI, was proclaimed head of state in Parliament on Thursday, ushering in what royalists hope will be a new era of stability for the country’s embattled monarchy. MADRID — It seemed unfair. The Catalans are threatening to break the country apart. Economically speaking, the patient is stable, but still in intensive care. The arrival of a new king on Thursday, despite the fact that he inherited a badly tarnished throne, may yet have provided Spaniards with a fillip of hope, even optimism, that their country was finally turning a corner.
In a ceremony that was conspicuously short on pomp and circumstance at a time of austerity, Felipe, 46, took over from his father, King Juan Carlos, 76. Juan Carlos, who abdicated earlier this month, came to the throne in 1975, after the death of Gen. Francisco Franco. Then the Chileans spoiled the moment.
Dressed in a military uniform, Felipe swore loyalty to Spain’s Constitution. Jesús Posada, president of the lower house of Parliament, then proclaimed him king. “Long live the king! Long live Spain!” he declared. Three weeks ago, when King Juan Carlos I unexpectedly announced his abdication, nobody in Spain suspected that the arrival of their new king would coincide, let alone be practically overshadowed, by the elimination of Spain from the World Cup. After all, Spain went to Brazil for the tournament as the defending world champions, with its national team and clubs dominating Europe’s recent competitions.
Felipe expressed his solidarity with the people of Spain, who are struggling to cope with a long-running economic crisis. But in a country where soccer (fútbol, as it is more appropriately called here) is perhaps the one thing for which nearly all Spaniards share an undiluted passion, Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to Chile cast a mist of mourning over the nation that even the pomp of a royal event could not altogether dispel.
“We owe them a moral duty to work to reverse this situation for citizens and to provide protection to the most vulnerable families,” he told Parliament. He also offered a message of hope for the future, saying it was especially imperative for the young. “Cemetery of Kings” read one of Thursday’s newspaper headlines, a reference to the debacle of a golden generation of Spanish soccer players, kicked out of the World Cup, rather than the day’s royal event, when King Felipe VI succeeded his father.
While Juan Carlos was credited with playing a central role in consolidating Spain’s return to democracy, in recent years the monarchy has been hit by a series of scandals, including the king’s decision to go on an elephant-hunting trip in 2012 while the country suffered through the economic downturn. “What just happened in Brazil was a disaster, so this can only be a sad moment and makes the issue of having a new king pretty irrelevant as far as I’m concerned,” said Gabriel Romero, 16, who was glumly walking around Madrid wearing the soccer shirt of La Roja, as the team in known.
In what is perhaps a sign of Felipe’s more down-to-earth approach, royalty from Europe and foreign leaders were not invited to the parliamentary ceremony. Even Juan Carlos decided not to attend, leaving the spotlight to his son. Also absent was Princess Cristina, Felipe’s sister, who is ensnared in a corruption case that is focused on her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, a former Olympic handball player who is accused of embezzling millions of dollars. In fact, while the royal succession has fueled a debate over whether Spain should keep its monarchy at all, many sounded more concerned Thursday with how to overhaul a soccer team whose victories had provided at least a modicum of distraction from the country’s troubles and also helped ease Spain’s regional tensions, something that even the monarchy has not managed to do.
Although Felipe’s ascent was a moment of joy for many Spaniards, the jubilation was somewhat offset by Chile’s 2-0 victory over Spain in the World Cup on Wednesday. It was a humiliating loss for Spain that eliminated the defending World Cup titleholder and two-time European champion from the competition, although the team has one more game to play. But diversion was not what everyone wanted, and if Spain had to be run out of the World Cup, then some opponents of the monarchy welcomed the timing.
A reserved man who is considered remote by some Spaniards, Felipe has also shown a common touch. In May he celebrated his 10-year wedding anniversary with his wife, Letizia, over a meal of couscous at a cultural center in Madrid. His 2004 marriage to Letizia, a commoner and former journalist, in the face of resistance by conservative royalists was also greeted in Spain as an example of his independent streak. “I’m sure the royal household wanted the new king to also benefit from soccer euphoria, so I’m glad the team lost because its success had created an absurd sense of patriotism that diverted attention from our political and social problems, including the fact that we should be able to choose our head of state,” said Carlos Royo, a 48-year-old masseur.
Mr. Royo was walking around Madrid with a Republican flag, in defiance of the authorities and the 7,000 police officers who had been deployed to help protect the royal day. “The fact that I’ve been told I can’t wave my flag shows you just how little democracy there is in our system,” Mr. Royo said.
Still, thousands took to the streets of Madrid and other cities after Juan Carlos said he would step down to demand a referendum on the monarchy, whose image has been damaged by profligate spending and corruption scandals.
In a nod to a time of austerity for most Spaniards, the coronation was conspicuously restrained, the guest list pruned of even royalty from the rest of Europe and foreign leaders.
Juan Carlos was also not in Parliament for the ceremony, but he made a brief appearance on the royal palace’s balcony, kissing his son and waving at the crowd below. Later, Felipe and his wife, Queen Letizia, personally greeted each of the more than 2,000 invitees to the reception held inside the palace.
Some guests said that, even if the exact timing was a coincidence, the decline of the soccer team could be seen as part of a broader changing of the guard, following the abdication of Juan Carlos, 76, whose reign lasted 39 years.
“I think it was the right time for the king to abdicate because he has clearly aged, but so too have our soccer players,” said Luis del Olmo, one of Spain’s most famous radio presenters.
Mr. del Olmo said, “This new king is our big hope, particularly in terms of reconnecting with our youth, which is understandably demanding some change.”
Still, large crowds lined the streets of Madrid on Thursday to see their new king drive past in an open-top Rolls-Royce, while others waited outside the royal palace. “We will win soccer matches again soon, but it’s not as if a new king happens every year,” said Elena Ramos, a student, who carried a small Spanish flag.
Earlier on Thursday, wearing a military uniform and speaking before Parliament, Felipe promised lawmakers “a renovated monarchy for a new time.” He mentioned in his speech unemployment and Spain’s other economic problems, but also alluded to territorial tensions, which have come to the fore in Catalonia, whose regional government plans an independence referendum in November. “In this united and diverse Spain, based on the equality and solidarity among its people, we can all fit,” he said.
Some of the parliamentarians’ loudest applause went to Felipe’s mother, Queen Sofia, who, unlike Juan Carlos, was in Parliament and blew a kiss to her son after he praised her during his speech, in a voice shaking with emotion.
Felipe closed his speech by adding a few words in Catalan, Basque, and Galician, Spain’s three regional languages, and added a message of humility.
“I feel proud of Spaniards and nothing would honor me more than if through my work and my daily efforts Spaniards would feel proud of me,” the new king said.
But in a sign of the political tensions that face the new monarch, the heads of the regional governments of Catalonia and the Basque Country did not join the applause at the end of the speech.
“The king opens another chapter and must bring new vitality to a Spanish democracy that needs it, especially as we are still going through a period of economic hardship,” said Joan Lerma, a senator and former Socialist minister.
The fact that some soccer players are now expected to leave the national team and follow the example of the ailing Juan Carlos “gives the idea that this is the end of an era, but it’s too early to make forecasts and decide that the next one cannot be better,” said Mr. Lerma.
“Remember that only a few years ago, before our team started bringing us so much joy, we were in fact used to losing,” he said.