Overview
- Felipe VI warned of a democratic “crisis of confidence” that feeds extremism and called for dialogue, respectful language, listening, and exemplary conduct from public powers.
- He anchored the speech in the 50th anniversary of the Transition’s start and the 40th of EU accession, delivering it standing in the Royal Palace’s Salón de Columnas with a carefully staged audiovisual format.
- PP leaders, including Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Isabel Díaz Ayuso and Juanma Moreno, publicly endorsed the appeal to coexistence and highlighted the Constitution and Europe as guarantors of freedoms.
- Left-wing and pro-independence figures—Podemos, Sumar, PCE, ERC and JxCat—criticized the address for relying on commonplaces and not addressing the dictatorship, housing pressures, or international crises such as Palestine.
- The king also cited citizens’ concerns about living costs, housing access, technological uncertainty and climate impacts, and said progress requires shared goals where ideas are not treated as dogma.