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Felipe VI Centers Christmas Address on Convivencia and Trust as Political Reactions Split

Reactions split along party lines, critics highlighting omissions on housing, the dictatorship, Gaza.

Overview

  • Speaking from the Royal Palace’s Salón de Columnas, the King urged Spaniards to rebuild trust and safeguard democratic coexistence, warning that extremisms and populisms feed on a growing crisis of confidence.
  • He anchored the message in anniversaries of Spain’s democratic Transition and its European Communities accession, delivering a concise nine‑minute, 1,126‑word address recorded standing with updated audiovisual staging.
  • PP leaders, led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, endorsed the appeal to dialogue and institutional exemplarity, echoing lines about shared goals and Europe’s role in freedoms and prosperity.
  • PSOE offered a measured nod through Cristina Narbona, while Podemos, Sumar, the PCE and several nationalist figures condemned what they called a generic tone and faulted the lack of explicit references to the housing crisis, Franco-era memory and the war in Gaza.
  • The speech has become the day’s political focal point, with supporters casting it as a reset toward convivencia and detractors arguing it sidesteps urgent socioeconomic and foreign‑policy grievances.