Infantas vaccination scandalizes the Government

The infantas Elena and Cristina, in an image from 2008 Daniel Ochoa de Olza / AP

The Government is increasingly concerned with the obvious damage to the image of the monarchy caused by the attitudes of the most direct relatives of Felipe VI, from his father, the king emeritus, to his sisters.

The vaccination of infantas Elena and Cristina in Abu Dhabi, skipping in several months the presumable term that they would have in Spain and that King Felipe, Queen Letizia and their daughters will keep, has scandalized the Executive.

All the ministers consulted in private convey their astonishment at a decision that they consider incomprehensible at a political moment like this, when all eyes are on the scandal of the opaque fortune of Juan Carlos I and his two regularizations.

But, as usual, the two sectors of the Government have reacted differently.

While United We can point out that scandals like this push towards a “republican horizon”, in the words of its leader, Pablo Iglesias, the socialist sector tries to protect Felipe VI as much as possible and separate him not only from his father, but also from his sisters, the three expelled from the Royal Family by the current head of state.

Miquel Iceta, Minister of Territorial Policy, insisted on making that difference and pointed out that it seems "fatal" to him that the infantas have been vaccinated, but stressed that Felipe VI, the queen and his two daughters, Leonor and Sofía, "have not fallen in that mistake ”of skipping the vaccination order.

The image crisis of the monarchy is no longer a matter that the Government treats with dissimulation as it did in the past.

Since the departure of King Juan Carlos I from Spain, La Moncloa has chosen to radically change the discourse.

The behavior of the king emeritus is already spoken openly in all appearances with great harshness.

The president, Pedro Sánchez, tries to tune in to the outrage reflected in all the polls and indicate that this type of issue produces "the same rejection" as the rest of society.

The Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, assures that the regularization of Don Juan Carlos "does not end any process" and everything will be looked at in detail to see if it is "true and complete."

The State Attorney General, Dolores Delgado, points out: "Surely the new regularizations will give us data and force us to carry out new investigations and verifications."

And executive sources insist that the Prosecutor's Office and the Tax Agency are not standing still, as it seems, but working thoroughly with discretion, and that the fruits will be seen at some point.

Commitment to the monarchy

However, the PSOE absolutely maintains its commitment to the monarchy, one of the bases of the constitutional pact, and the president has ordered all his ministers that Felipe VI must be protected as much as possible.

The chosen formula is to harshly reproach his father's behavior and at the same time contrast it with his attitude.

The Executive also has in its portfolio the possibility of making a Crown law, or at least partial reforms to modernize the institution and make it more transparent, but two months have passed since they were announced and La Moncloa does not want to offer any details about this. issue, which has to be negotiated with La Zarzuela, which always has a slower pace and is more resistant to changes.

In this context of enormous concern generated by the latest regularization of the king emeritus and the possibility that he wants to return to Spain and that generates new problems, the vaccination of infantas scandalized the ministers on Wednesday.

"As a group of citizens we constitute a community based on bonds of solidarity and trust and I think it is very bad that someone, because of their position, skips the vaccination order," said Iceta.

The second vice president, Pablo Iglesias, went further.

First, he said that society "does not accept" that members of the Royal House are vaccinated in Abu Dhabi when "there are many citizens who are disciplined in the queue for when they have availability."

And he finished: "It will be better when there is a republic in Spain even if this bothers media sectors and the deep state."

The leader of Unidos Podemos also spoke of the existence of a debate in Spanish society about the usefulness of the monarchy that, he says, grows as new scandals of the Royal House become known.

Yolanda Díaz, Minister of Labor, also showed her disagreement.

"It saddens me because there are many professionals who are at risk today who are not yet vaccinated."

The spokesperson for Podemos, Isa Serra, concluded: "No one is doing as much for the republican cause as Juan Carlos I, Felipe VI, the infantas Elena and Cristina, and all those who protect so much impunity."

Several questions await the Government, especially the Minister of Finance in the coming weeks to find out if there has been a favorable deal with the King Emeritus.

And some groups wondered yesterday also if the infantas have traveled to Abu Dhabi with public money and if they have paid for these vaccines in the same way.

This is the case of the leader of Más País, Íñigo Errejón, who raised questions in this regard yesterday.

The opposition parties have reacted differently. While the Citizens' spokesperson, Edmundo Bal, did openly criticize the infantas, the PP and also the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, avoided any reproach and pointed out that it is a “personal matter” and that “contrary to the who have skipped the list in Spain ", referring to some scandals by politicians and the military, the infantas" have not taken the vaccine from any Spaniard. "