Alex Trelinski
KING Felipe VI will deliver his traditional Christmas Eve message to the nation this Friday evening.
His speech, recorded at his Zarzuela Palace home in Madrid, will be simulcast at 9.00 pm across most national and regional Spanish TV channels.
The major exception is the Basque Country’s ETB channel, which has never broadcast the message.
Felipe’s address comes as the familiar issues of the pandemic and his exiled father, Juan Carlos, loom large.
As at the same time last year, the COVID situation is worsening and he is expected to reference it like in he did in most of his 2020 speech.
It’s anticipated that the monarch will also talk about the La Palma volcanic eruption and express solidarity with the islanders.
The vexed issue of his father, Juan Carlos, continues to make headlines.
The ex-king has been living in exile in Abu Dhabi since August 2020 as prosecutors continue to probe corruption allegations.
There have been suggestions that he might return home early in the New Year.
His son last year made no direct reference to his father.
He did refer to ‘moral and ethical principles that citizens expect from everybody without exception’.
The Casa del Rey video channel on YouTube will screen highlights of the Royal Family year from 8.00 pm tonight before televising Felipe’s message.
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