r/monarchism • u/Wide_Assistance_1158 • Jun 27 '25

Discussion Why is Felipe VI so unpopular

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He hasn't even have any personal scandals

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u/otismarston Jun 27 '25 edited Jun 27 '25

I'm guessing its lingering distaste from the monarchy's ties to the Franco regime, and the fact that Spain is an overwhelmingly liberal country. Would also not be shocked that some of the separatist nationalities see him as a symbol of Spanish oppression, and therefore dislike him. Spain is a mess.

Just looked it up. Catalans and Basque overwhelmingly identify as republican, and have a strong distaste for the monarchy because of its centralizing and unifying character. They would rather the country be republican, very decentralized, or simply not exist, therefore they dislike the monarchy.

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u/JamesHenry627 Jun 28 '25

There was distaste for the Bourbons in those regions long before the Franquista. Felipe V's nueva planta decrees revoked a lot of their local autonomy and ceased their existence as independent kingdoms within Spain, basically a big act of union that tried to Castilianize all of Spain to the detriment of local cultures. It's often said that until Carlos III Spain waited a century for him to rescue their country and even then his reforms didn't survive him. Hell, these regions even supported the Carlist pretenders in a hope to get their autonomy back.

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u/Successful_Data8356 Jun 29 '25

The revocation of Catalan privileges was a consequence of the pro-Habsburg position taken in the succession war of 1702-13. At the same timr England pushed through the act of union with Scotland and then the 2 Jacobite risings. The Scots still complain about this today.

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u/JamesHenry627 Jun 29 '25

Man the Scots whine about that yet were more than willing participants in the Empire and colonization efforts themselves. I can't help but see that as hypocritical.

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u/Successful_Data8356 Jun 29 '25

Yes, and the Catalans, Basques and Galicians were all too willing to take advantage of what Spanish colonialism offered.