Spanish king warns compatriots against "discord" in Christmas speech
The Spanish constitution adopted 45 years ago was the "greatest political success of our recent history" because it had overcome the "division" of the country, Felipe VI continued. The previous division had been the cause of "many mistakes in our history", had "opened up wounds" and separated people from one another. The constitution adopted in 1978 had consolidated Spain' s transition to democracy after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.
The king delivered his Christmas speech a few weeks after the re-election of head of government Pedro Sánchez with the help of Catalan independence supporters. The social democrat Sánchez had promised the Catalan independence supporters an amnesty in return for their support.
The background to this is the failed attempts to secede Catalonia from Spain in 2017. The promised amnesty has deeply divided Spain and led to major demonstrations, some of which were called by the right-wing opposition.
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Source: www.stern.de
