Controversy in Spain over ironic public television graphic with royal heiress

A graph of the Spanish public television has sparked a heated debate this Wednesday comparing Leonor de Borbón, heiress to the throne, with her grandfather Don Juan Carlos, exiled after experiencing alleged irregularities regarding his personal finances.

Public television broadcast the graphic for a few minutes “Leonor leaves Spain, like his grandfather”, to comment on the news that King Felipe VI’s 15-year-old daughter will be finishing high school in Wales.

El canal de La 1 estableció así un paralelismo con don Juan Carlos, padre de Felipe y rey ​​de España from 1975 to 2014, quien desde agosto vive autoexiliado en Abu Dabi, después de que la justicia española empezara a investigar indicios de una fortuna opaca en abroad. The incident forced Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) to react, which in a statement announced that the administrator of the public entity, Rosa María Mateo “deeply regrets the serious error” and “took immediate measures to ensure that responsible for this error be relieved of their positions ”.

The public entity added: “It was a serious irresponsibility that cannot interfere with RTVE’s unwavering commitment to defend the constitutional values ​​and institutions of the State, and especially the Crown.

Political leaders and party fronts have joined the controversy. “RTVE’s drift has no limits. Now attack the crown “, tweeted the People’s Party, leader of the conservative opposition, and stressed: “TVE cannot be the official government channel”. For its part, the left of Podemos quipped the affair. “The TVE label should not disturb monarchists who believe that Juan Carlos is innocent and left Spain to change the scene”wrote the left front. “If that bothers them, it’s because they recognize that indeed Juan Carlos is corrupt”he added.

With information from the AP agency

THE NATION

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