Best Form of Government: The Public Image of the Monarchy in Spain

By Juan Díez-Nicolás

Thirty years after the monarchy was reestablished in Spain following the death of dictator Francisco Franco, all available data demonstrate that Spaniards have a great affection and respect for their king, Juan Carlos I. These strongly positive opinions seem to have been transferred gradually to all other members of the royal family, as well as to the institution itself, to the point that the monarchy has been and is at present undeniably preferred to any kind of republic.

Like that of any other social institution, the public image of the monarchy has more than one dimension. The four indicators most frequently used during the past three decades to measure these different aspects have been self-evaluated monarchist sentiment, evaluation of the Crown as an institution, preference for the monarchy as a political regime, and the personal image of King Juan Carlos himself. What can we say about each of these, and how have the different measurements developed over time?

A measure of self-evaluated monarchist sentiment might take the form of a survey item along the lines of, “Generally speaking, would you consider yourself a monarchist or a republican?” Of the four indicators mentioned, it is the least useful one. At the time of the reestablishment of the monarchy, there were few monarchists in Spain. During the forty years of the Franco regime, the public image of the institution had eroded to the point that large sectors did not hesitate to criticize it publicly, despite legislation adopted by that regime defining Spain as a kingdom. Nevertheless, when Juan Carlos became head of state as King of Spain on November 22, 1975, he was very widely accepted by the Spanish people, by some because they considered him the best guarantor of continuity without shocks, and by others because they expected him to bring democracy—as he has done. For the majority of Spaniards, then and now, the choice was not between monarchy and republic, but between dictatorship and democracy.

For this reason, few, if any, surveys asked about the public image of the monarchy during the first years of the political transition to democracy; but in 1981 an attempted coup d’état changed that. On February 23 of that year, a group of Civil Guards from the old regime, led by Lieutenant Colonel Tejero, invaded the Congreso de los Diputados (equivalent to the U.S. House of Representatives) and held the deputies hostage while tanks led by Captain General Milans del Bosch occupied the streets of Valencia. The king played a decisive role in defusing the situation.

Since that time, polling questions about the monarchy as a political regime, about the Crown as an institution, and about the king himself have become more and more frequent. Most researchers have continued to avoid asking about monarchist sentiments, however, because in the wake of the loss of tradition under the Franco regime and the advent of a more secular-rational approach to authority, such sentiments are not believed to be important. Considered more vital has been a more pragmatic evaluation of the utility of the monarchy to guarantee the recovery of democracy and political stability. With very different public leaders increasingly and simultaneously proclaiming their republican beliefs and their full support for King Juan Carlos, monarchist sentiments have become a poor indicator of support for either the Crown or the monarchy.

We can confirm a utilitarian interpretation of the public image of the Spanish monarchy, the Crown, and the king himself through an analysis of data from ASEP’s monthly survey on Spanish public opinion, going back to October 1986.