Spain: a more transparent royal household
Spain's King Felipe VI revealed his personal assets on Monday, which he says amount to 2.6 million euros. On Tuesday, the government passed a decree aimed at strengthening the transparency, accountability and efficiency of the royal household. From now on, the Court of Auditors will audit the king's budget annually, as it already does with political parties and public institutions. Spanish commentators don't think much of the move.
We need legislation
El Periódico de Catalunya says this doesn't go far enough:
“Felipe VI's gesture is remarkable given that some of Europe's leading monarchies - the British, Belgian and Dutch ones - are as opaque in this respect as Spain's has been until now. ... Both initiatives are positive but insufficient. The king, for example, has published his assets voluntarily, without anyone forcing him to do so. ... Other measures are pending, such as limiting the monarch's inviolability regarding public acts, excluding private acts. ... Legislation would be advisable, either by means of the so often postponed and now apparently discarded 'law of the crown' or by means of various acts and decrees.”
A symptom of weak democracy
Ctxt.es is scandalised by the news:
“The announcement that the People's Party, PSOE and the royal family negotiated and reached an agreement in secret on the one hand reflects the extreme weakness of an institution discredited by the excesses of Juan Carlos I, and on the other hand it is the umpteenth symptom of the poor quality of a parliamentary monarchy. ... The most scandalous aspect is that the royal family decided to pass on the information only to those parties that are considered 'pro-constitutional'. ... The rest is a compendium of good intentions and empty phrases. ... Instead of debating an organic law in parliament to modernise the institution, the Crown has chosen to concoct a minimal reform with the country's two main political parties.”