Those of us who have had to represent Spain, all its political and cultural expressions, and its varied economic interests, have had to learn - because one is not born with this ability - to speak - regardless of our ideas - of these expressions, with impartiality, with neutrality in political polemics; to lower bilateral tensions with the countries to which we were accredited, and to deal with absolute discretion when it came to highly political issues or privileged or secret information. As they say, data "for exclusive or restricted knowledge". And I assure you that it is not easy.
No one should be surprised that our monarch, educated with great care, aware from his own family experience of the merciless scrutiny of the monarchical institution, and aware in as much detail as anyone else of our internal and external political vicissitudes, knows how to interpret adequately and accurately the complexity of representing a multicultural and multilingual state. Moreover, in recent years our country has gone through - without forgetting its many enviable achievements - surprising political ups and downs, has banished, possibly forever, the two-party system, and is experiencing territorial tensions that are difficult to resolve. This is not easy to explain in other parts of the world.
Knowing how to summarise all this before the president of Israel, a convulsive country par excellence, in the lapidary phrase "our country has recently experienced a somewhat complex political context" and "now a new cycle is beginning", contrary to seeming banal, is, in its simplicity, a wise expression of sanity, political impartiality and a positive sense of statehood. It is something, of course, that is expected of a king and head of state, but in these current circumstances of society's weariness with the repetition of elections, of a rude and insulting political language and of a sense of absence of what Spain's priorities are, it invites us not only to recognise the monarch's insight, but also to meditate on the message that there is a political "new cycle" that should be taken advantage of.
Spaniards in general would be delighted if this "new cycle" could be used to achieve state consensus on education, the pension system and tackling the Catalan challenge, for example.
I believe that Felipe VI is prepared, has a broad sense of the State, and -if I may say so- the ability to represent us effectively both inside and outside Spain. But I am sure that at some point our monarch would prefer to define and sum up what is happening inside Spain with "we are doing well, we are doing well and we are immersed in a good cycle", to paraphrase a former Argentine president. It would also be a generalist and vague expression, but undoubtedly a little more optimistic, of that Spain that many millions of Spaniards have been longing for in recent times.
Carmelo Angulo Barturen
Diplomat since 1977. He has been Spanish Ambassador to Bolivia, Colombia, Argentina and Mexico and UN Coordinator in Nicaragua and Argentina. Director of the Institute for Cooperation of the Camilo José Cela University and Second Vice-President of the Francisco Luzón Foundation. Founder and managing partner of the consulting firm Angulo Barturen Corporate Diplomacy (ABDC).