King Felipe VI dedicated his traditional Christmas Eve message to defending conviviality as the foundation of Spanish democracy, warning of a crisis of trust that feeds extremism. Delivered standing for the first time in the Column Hall of the Royal Palace, the nine-minute speech recalled the 50th anniversary of the Transition and the 40th of EU accession. He called for dialogue, respect, and exemplarity in public powers amid a turbulent world.
King Felipe VI delivered his twelfth Christmas message on December 24 from the Column Hall of the Royal Palace in Madrid, the same place where Spain signed its accession to the European Communities in 1985. Standing for the first time, in a dynamic format with palace projections and photos of the Royal Family in Brañosera, Móstoles, Navarre, and Valdesoto, the monarch appealed for trust and democratic conviviality in a 1,126-word speech lasting nine minutes and two seconds.
"The tension in public debate causes weariness, disappointment, and disaffection that cannot be resolved with rhetoric," warned Felipe VI, recalling that "conviviality is not an imperishable legacy; it is enough to receive it: it is a fragile construction." He alerted to an "unsettling crisis of trust" in democracies that feeds extremism, radicalism, and populism, and called to preserve trust through dialogue, respect in language, and exemplarity in public powers.
The king praised the Transition as a collective exercise of responsibility that allowed shared objectives and defended the European project amid global threats. He mentioned challenges like the cost of living, housing access, job uncertainty, and climate change, insisting solutions require everyone's commitment. "Spain is, above all, a shared project," he concluded, wishing Merry Christmas in Spanish, Basque, Catalan, and Galician.
The message, his shortest in 12, avoided direct references to corruption or his father, Juan Carlos I, despite expectations. Analysts see it as a political plea for concord in times of polarization, with intergenerational and pro-European emphasis.
