Yahoo – AFP,
Daniel Bosque, 26 June 2014
Spain's
King Felipe VI reviews troops and Guardia Civil during a military
ceremony at
the Palacio de Oriente or Royal Palace in Madrid on June 25,
2014 (AFP
Photo/Dani Pozo)
|
Girona
(Spain) (AFP) - Just a week into his reign, Spain's King Felipe VI visits one
of the country's most politically sensitive regions Thursday: Catalonia, where
an independence drive has raised tensions with Madrid.
Catalan
leaders' plan for a referendum on independence from Spain has put them at odds
with the national government, which insists such a move is illegal.
Now some
are looking to Felipe to help ease the row.
"All
the new king can do to facilitate dialogue, especially given the intransigence
of the national government, will be positive," said the Catalonia regional
government's vice-president Joana Ortega.
"But I
insist we have to look for a solution where one should be found, in the
political sphere."
The king,
who speaks good Catalan, heads along with his glamorous ex-newsreader wife
Queen Letizia to one of the region's most independence-minded towns, Girona, to
preside at a royal prize-giving.
Given the
hostility of the pro-independence movement to the national institutions, it is
seen as a trial of fire for Felipe, who was sworn in as successor to his father
Juan Carlos on June 19.
As crown
prince, Felipe's titles included Prince of Girona, after which Thursdays prizes
are named. Now he is king, the title has passed onto his eight-year-old
daughter and heir, Leonor.
But the
town hall recently approved a motion declaring that Girona dissociated itself
from the princely title.
Unity,
diversity
Proud of
their distinct language and culture, a growing number of Catalonia's 7.5
million citizens resent the redistribution of their taxes to other parts of
Spain and believe the region would be better off on its own.
Felipe is
due to coincide at a dinner after Thursday's prizes with Catalonia's president
Artur Mas, leader of the current autonomy drive, but no formal meeting is
scheduled between them.
Mas did not
applaud Felipe's investiture speech, in which the king defended the "unity
of Spain" as well as its diversity.
Mas has said he will "wait and see" how things go with the new king. He maintains his call for an independence referendum on November 9, which the government has branded illegal.
Analysts
have hailed Felipe as a breath of fresh air after recent scandals for the
Spanish monarchy, but they caution that in Spain's parliamentary democracy the
king's political powers are limited.
A Spanish
judge ruled Wednesday that King Felipe's sister, Princess Cristina, and her
husband should face fraud charges, opening the way to an unprecedented criminal
trial.
"The
king does not govern, he reigns," said political scientist Joan Botella.
"He
can contribute to changing people's state of mind. That is probably what a large
part of the Catalan and Spanish public is hoping. We will see if he
manages to do it."
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