Left-leaning politicians in the Spanish autonomous community of Navarra approved a resolution in favor of a referendum on the monarchy this week.

The vote happened the day before King Felipe and Queen Letizia were set to visit the National Center for Technology and Food Security.

Politicians in Navarra, which has taken a leftward turn, also recently moved to de-royalize the Prince of Viana awards.

Beyond the title of Prince of Asturias, the heir to the Spanish throne is also the Prince of Princess of Viana. The current holder is Princess Leonor.

The Spanish media did not give the referendum too much attention, mainly because of its symbolic nature.

Spain is still feeling the effects of the financial crisis and rising populism, which have hurt the monarchy.

Political corruption scandals and the conviction of Infanta Cristina’s husband for fraud have also taken a toll.

But it would be a mistake to say the monarchy is in peril, as many international news outlets like to say.

King Juan Carlos, who helped transition Spain to democracy and was once considered untouchable, had to abdicate amid several missteps.

But opinion polls show his son, King Felipe, gets much higher marks. Queen Letizia and Queen Sofia, Don Felipe’s mother, also do well with the public.

Polls are all over the place. El Español published a poll in 2016 finding less than 50 percent support for the monarchy but 53 percent support for King Felipe.

An El Mundo poll from 2015 has the monarchy at more than 60 percent. A Metroscopia poll the same year had the King’s approval at more than 80 percent.

Despite politicians, particularly on the left, bringing up issues like the monarchy, a Spanish Center for Sociological Investigations found most Spaniards are not concerned about it.

Infanta Cristina, King Felipe’s sister, reappeared during a public event last week, just weeks after a Palma de Mallorca court cleared her of corruption charges.

The scandal was related to her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin’s, business dealings. The court convicted him.

Doña Cristina visited the Royal Palace for the first time in years for the funeral of Infanta Alicia of Bourbon-Parma and Habsburg-Lorraine.

Spanish media outlets posted video of the event, with King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia greeting Infanta Cristina on their way in.

Agenda remains packed

Also this month, King Felipe presided over a meeting of the Scientific Council of the Royal Institute of International and Strategic Affairs.

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia were in Oslo on the 10th for King Harald and Queen Sonja’s birthday. Queen Sofia’s family once eyed Harald as a potential suitor.

On the 11th, Queen Letizia spoke at en event in Seville to mark the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

On the 8th, King Juan Carlos gave his sister, Infanta Margarita, a medal for her with with the Royal Academy of Medicine.

Also on the 8th, King Felipe and Queen Letizia welcomed the president of Costa Rica and his wife.

King Felipe is set to travel to Jordan later this month for an economic and political meeting on the Middle East and North Africa.Cristina

Members of the Spanish Royal Family have had a busy public agenda in the weeks since the Easter break.

Late last month King Felipe was in Strasbourg, speaking to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly to mark the 40th anniversary of Spain joining the group.

Earlier, he gave an award to actor and filmmaker Antonio Bandera as the University of Alcalá de Henares, where author Miguel de Cervantes was born.

The King and Queen Letizia recently handed out the global Cervantes prize there related to the Spanish language.

The Queen last month also visited Valencia for a meeting on rare diseases, one of her focus areas, and a gathering with students.

Their Majesties spent days in the Canary Islands, meeting with local leaders and residents, including at the Christopher Columbus House in Las Palmas of Gran Canaria.

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, shortly after Easter, visited Seville’s royal sites to commemorate the 1992 Expo there.

Media outlets have also reported that King Felipe and Queen Letizia are working on a good date for their postponed state visit to the United Kingdom.

Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia, King Felipe and Queen Letizia’s daughters, are increasingly taking an active public role for the Royal Household.

During Easter mass in Palma de Mallorca — a traditional stop for members of the Royal Family — the young Royal Highnesses appeared poised and confident when greeting the public.

Leonor, the Princess of Asturias and heir to the throne, is 11 and her sister Sofia is 9, so they still have some years before representing family country on their own.

When he was prince, Don Felipe swore allegiance to the Constitution when he came of age in 1986. His first speech was in 1981.

As King, he made his daughter Leonor a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece in preparation for her duties. The Royal Household has also been working on how to regulate her future activities.

 

 

King Felipe and Queen Letizia recently returned from a roughly week-long state visit to Japan.

Among numerous meetings, Their Majesties shared a meal and other meetings with Emperor Akohito and Empress Michiko.

The King and Queen also, as is customary, met with Spaniards living and working in Japan.

The King worked to strengthen business ties between the two countries, meeting with business leaders on both sides.

The Queen visited researchers specializing in rare diseases, one of the focuses of her young reign.

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, King Felipe’s parents, made two appearances together earlier this month.

They visited the famed Prado museum in Madrid for an exhibit of items from the Hispanic Society of America Museum and Library.

On the same week, Their Majesties visited the Reina Sofía museum — named after Queen Sofia — for an exhibit marking the institution being able to display Pablo Picasso’s Guernica masterpiece.

Separately, Queen Sofia presided over an awards ceremony of the Spanish Geographic Society.

Members of the Spanish Royal Family and the extended king’s family were in Austria for the burial of Infanta Alicia Bourbon-Parma, King Juan Carlos’ aunt.

King Felipe spent two days in Catalonia late last month amid ongoing political tensions there.

His Majesty attended events surrounding this year’s Mobile World Congress in Catalonia’s capital of Barcelona.

The event is traditionally on the royal calendar. It is also important for members of the Royal Family to be active in Catalonia.

The King took the opportunity to hold several meetings at Albéniz Palace, His Majesty’s official residence in Barcelona.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia have since continued a full agenda of meetings.

Queen Letizia did something rare and notable this week.

Even though Her Majesty usually doesn’t wear tiaras or has preferred smaller ones, she wore one of the larger pieces in the royal collection for a state dinner for Argentina’s new president and first lady.

Queen Letizia wore the fleur-de-lis tiara from Spanish jeweler Ansorena that Queen Victoria Eugenie wore on her wedding day to Alfonso XIII in 1906.

Some commentators said the Queen wore the tiara to overshadow President Macri’s wife, Juliana Awada.

Other news

Also in recent days, Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceo gave Queen Sofia a gold medal for her commitment to the arts.

Separately, a Palma de Mallorca court is not making King Felipe’s brother in law Iñaki Urdangarin report to prison following his corruption and fraud conviction. A long appeals process is likely.

A Palma de Mallorca court has absolved Infanta Cristina, King Felipe’s sister, of fraud and corruption charges today.

Her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, the former Duke of Palma, may go to jail for more than six years.

At issue is a long-running case dealing with a group Urdangarin lead. Authorities accuse him of enriching himself through lucrative government contracts.

Even though the court absolved the infanta, King Juan Carlos’ daughter and former Duchess of Palma, she must pay a so-called civil responsibility.

The King and Queen Letizia continued with their schedule as usual. The Royal Household has expressed confidence in the justice system.

King Felipe’s rise to the throne after Don Juan Carlos’ abdication means Infanta Cristina is no longer a member of the core Royal Family.

The scandal also led her brother to strip her of her duchess title. She claims she resigned it first.

King Felipe addressed problems facing the European Union and Spain’s plans to work with the new Trump administration in the United States.

King Felipe’s father, King Juan Carlos, was the first head of state to visit President Obama at the White House. But Spain has said little about Trump.

During a reception at the Royal Palace in Madrid for the diplomatic corps last month, the King said, “It is our desire to continue working with the new administration at the same level of excellence that we have done until now.”

The King spoke in the Throne Room. The reception was nearby in the stately Hall of Columns.

On Europe, His Majesty said, “We are aware that the European project is being put into question” but he pointed to EU actions to address the financial crisis. “It’s time for a better Europe, not to undo the good we have built or to turn back.”