Informal referendum on Spanish monarchy scheduled for May

OVIEDO, Spain

The Monarchy or Republic Popular Consultation Platform has announced that it will hold an informal referendum on Spain’s monarchy in May.

“We are aware that this consultation will be non-binding, but it’s a space for expression, citizen participation and is an act of democracy,” the organization said in a statement on Sunday.

The platform is formed by far-left political parties, unions and other social organizations.

The United Left party is one of the platform’s key backers, which makes up a small part of Spain’s governing coalition. Alberto Garzon is the leader of the party as well as the Spanish minister of consumer affairs.

While the platform promoting a referendum may be backed by mostly far-left organizations, general support in Spain for the monarchy has sunk to new lows.

A recent survey conducted by 40dB suggests that 53% of Spaniards believe the monarchy is outdated and unnecessary in modern times.

Although the majority of survey respondents did not support a referendum on the issue, just 31% said they would vote in favor of the monarchy if asked, while 39% would vote for a republic and the rest would not vote or were undecided.

Spain’s monarchy has one of the lowest levels of support in Europe due to a growing list of royal family scandals.

Former King Juan Carlos I abdicated and later fled Spain to the United Arab Emirates after scandals related to an affair, a glamourous elephant hunting trip and offshore bank accounts emerged.

Spain became a monarchy after the death of the dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, who passed his power to King Juan Carlos I.

In 1978, Spain became a constitutional monarchy after the majority of Spaniards voted to back the democratic Spanish Constitution.

“Most of Spain’s current population didn’t have the chance to vote in 1978. But who did vote didn’t have the option to choose the type of government (monarchy or republic),” said the platform organizing the referendum in a statement.

The platform had previously scheduled a non-binding referendum on the monarchy for the 2020 spring. The pandemic, however, led to a two-year delay.