There are moments in life that are not forgotten and in these days July 2010 does not stop coming back to my memory. As Director General of the Higher Sports Council, I had the good fortune to witness the South Africa World Cup final in Johannesburg. And there, accompanying the Spanish National Team, were the King and Queen of Spain - then the Prince and Princess of Asturias -. We all remember where we were that night when Iniesta scored. I remember something else: the feeling that all of Spain had decided to celebrate the same thing. The same goal. The same joy. Sport has that strange ability to dissolve differences. It unites people who in another context would not agree on almost anything. It unites territories and brings generations closer.
I keep a photo in my office that shows the joy we experienced in the locker room with the players, the technical team, Queen Sofia and the Prince and Princess of Asturias, Rafa Nadal and Plácido Domingo, among others. The image very well describes an element that has marked the years of the reign of Felipe VI and Letizia. Their ability to listen, to connect with joys and also to empathize with the pain and concerns of Spaniards.
Last April 21st, I had the honor, along with the directors of La Distribución, of being received in private audience by King Felipe VI on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of our association. I left that meeting with something that is not always easy to find nowadays: the feeling of having been truly heard.
The King asked with interest about the challenges of commerce, its employees, household consumption, digital transformation, and all the issues that impact commercial distribution, which is the largest private employer in Spain. It was a close conversation with the Head of State that for us has enormous importance.
It was a close conversation with the Head of State that for us has enormous importance
I have thought a lot about those two moments - Johannesburg in July 2010, Zarzuela in April 2026 - because I believe they say something important about the Spanish parliamentary monarchy and about the reign of Felipe VI.
We live in a time of enormous institutional noise and, however, there is something that the Crown has managed to maintain amidst that noise: a position of balance, moderation, and sense of duty that is increasingly necessary.
I do not speak from a romantic view of the institution. On the contrary. I believe that modern monarchies only make sense if they are capable of demonstrating real democratic utility. And precisely for that reason, I think the reign of Felipe VI and Letizia deserves a serene and fair reflection in public debate.
In a moment of polarization, maintaining a position that represents everyone is something enormously valuable. King Felipe VI has made exemplarity a way of exercising his office. Since the beginning of his reign, he has built a figure based on sobriety, rigor, and a sense of duty. In an era when leadership tends to be measured by visibility and immediate impact, he has opted for something more difficult and solid: consistency. Doing the same when being watched and when not being watched. Being present when appropriate, even if it doesn't make headlines. Putting the institution before the person. That, in the business world, is called real leadership.
I believe that modern monarchies only make sense if they are capable of demonstrating real democratic utility
And the ability to listen is not a minor trait. It is part of that same character. A head of state who asks, who does not improvise, but also does not recite, conveys something very concrete: that the people in front of him matter.
Queen Letizia has also brought the ability to modernize the institution. Her professional background, her social sensitivity, her way of understanding public representation have brought the Crown closer to a more demanding, more diverse, and contemporary society. She represents an institution that understands the country's changes.
Taken together, their work has great value inside and outside Spain. The Crown today is an institution that understands that its role is not to serve. That its legitimacy does not come from the past, but from current work. That trust is not inherited: it is earned every day.
The most solid parliamentary monarchies in Europe—Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark—have not survived by historical inertia. They have survived because they have known how to adapt, modernize, and demonstrate that they contribute something that other political systems also aspire to guarantee: institutional continuity beyond political cycles, and a representation of the State that does not depend solely on who won the last election.
In a context of profound changes, the Crown is a benchmark of stability, cohesion, and prestige for our country, and its work is essential to reinforce the confidence of citizens and companies in institutions. Spain has, in its parliamentary monarchy, its greatest democratic asset.
Faced with polarization, the Crown represents neutrality. Faced with institutional distrust, it represents something that is built over time and with work, credibility. And perhaps that is exactly what is most needed today: Listening and sense of duty.
And that, in these times, is no small thing.