PSOE, PP and Vox support the king’s speech, while the Government’s partners criticize it

The reactions to the king’s Christmas speech have not been long in coming. Felipe VI’s words last night sparked the first criticism from some of Pedro Sánchez’s investiture partners, such as Sumar, ERC and the BNG, and on the other hand, he has received the express support of the PSOE, PP and Vox.

This Christmas Eve the king turned his message into a monograph of the Constitution and has called for compliance with it as a guarantee of unity and progress and has warned that if the fundamental norm is not respected, “there is no democracy or coexistence possible”, nor law, neither peace nor freedom, but “imposition and arbitrariness.”

This Saturday, the president of the PSOE, Cristina Narbona, evaluated the message positively. “We socialists believe that we must continue working within the framework of that Constitution and we believe that it preserves the unity of Spain thanks also to how it integrates diversity, the diversity of languages, cultures and institutions. This unity in diversity makes us a stronger country and guarantees that necessary coexistence,” Narbona stated in statements sent to the media. Thus, the president of the socialists has advocated for “moving forward from that unity that recognizes freedom and diversity” and from “the respect that allows positions to be brought closer while respecting the constitutional framework.”

“On the part of the King, mention was also made of how to defend the Constitution, it is not enough to just respect it in a more or less nominal way. To preserve the Constitution, we must preserve the ethical and political values ​​that are at the basis of the great social consensus,” added Narbona, emphasizing “the value of freedom, equality, justice and political plurality.”

In this regard, Narbona has assured that “all of this is part of a heritage that the PSOE is committed to defending.” “We are committed to defending them and, as the monarch says, we must do so every day, with respect to all articles of the Constitution and by all institutions. The institutions of the executive branch, both the central government and the governments of autonomous communities and city councils. The legislative power, Congress, Senate, parliamentary assemblies. And, of course, the judiciary and political parties, which are basic tools of our democracy,” he stated.

Likewise, the president of the PSOE has claimed that her party shares the considerations made by His Majesty regarding the Magna Carta which, “without a doubt, was a collective success”, as Narbona pointed out. “It was the culmination of an effort that allowed us to overcome the very serious division that existed in Spain and, therefore, overcome so many years of suffering and isolation in our country and begin the path towards a modern democracy,” she noted.

Reviews from investiture partners

One of the first people to react on social networks was Marta Lois, spokesperson and deputy for Sumar in Congress, who considers that it was a “disappointing speech.” “1. It is not polarization, it is the extreme right against democracy. 2. Nothing about social rights and everyday life. 3. Plurinationality, absent. Felipe VI has chosen not to talk about social rights and the concerns of citizens to present today the most restrictive interpretation of the Constitution. In short, in the past. A speech far from the real country”, he has written on his X account.

Lois has also criticized that Felipe VI has not spoken about social rights or that he has referred to polarization as “a fight between two equals after months of ultra mobilizations against the government.”

The ERC spokesperson in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, has published a photo of the king greeting Franco with the following message: “What there was when there was no Constitution.”

PP and Vox support it

The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijoo, has defended the message of Felipe VI: “In his Christmas message, King Felipe VI has defended the validity of the Constitution as the only guarantor of coexistence and a future with certainty for all. “Outside of respect for the Constitution and institutions there is no law but arbitrariness.”

Meanwhile, the general secretary of the popular Cuca Gamarra has applauded that the king spoke about “Spain and the Constitution”: “At a time when there is a clear objective of overflowing our common rules, HM the King has been resounding in his defense of the unity of Spanish society. Outside the Constitution there is no law. Long live the king!”

The far-right party Vox has reacted to the king’s Christmas speech by reproducing a part of the monarch’s speech in which he said that “Spain will move forward.”

Ione Belarra, from Podemos, has criticized the fact that “not a single mention is made of the genocide in Palestine and with desperate attempts to gain the sympathy of the right that insulted him a few weeks ago. She is increasingly convinced that the monarchy has definitively been left behind and that Felipe VI is going to be the last.

Junts considers it “irrelevant”

The general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, has considered Felipe VI’s speech “irrelevant”. The independence leader has accused the monarch of having been the one who fostered the “seed of discord” when on October 3, 2017 he harshly criticized the sovereignty process and the self-determination referendum. Within the framework of the traditional floral offering at the tomb of Francesc Macià, the leader of Junts has considered that the king does not have “moral legitimacy” to ask that this seed not be promoted and has reproached him for not having yet asked for forgiveness for his speech from six years ago.

The president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, has defined King Felipe VI’s Christmas speech as a continuation of the one he made three days after 1-O, “and the best example is that the right and the extreme right applaud him.”