A Spanish Problem

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 584, 9 February 1929, Page 18

A Spanish Problem

Who Succeeds King Alfonso ?

HT the present moment Spanish people, as well as European sovereigns and statesmen, are guessing as to who will be the next King of Spain. The recent visit of the Queen of Spain to England, where it is reported that she is looking for an English school for her third son, Don Juan, has heightened the speculation. Under ordinary circumstances there would be no uncertainty regarding Spain’s future King. The Prince of the Asturias, the 21-year-old son of King Alfonso, is by birth the heir apparent, and were all well with this young Prince he would be his father’s successor. But all is not well with him. He has been an invalid for the greater part of his life. On several occasions his life has been iu the balance, for he suffers from a disease known as haemophilia. This ailment is one in which the blood of the victim lacks the necessary element to congeal and, therefore, the slightest cut or wound causes excessive bleeding. This is not the only ailment of the young prince. He has been almost totally deaf since birth and he speaks with difficulty. The King’s second son, Don Jaime, is also an invalid, though not quite so pronounced a one as his elder brother. He, too, was with difficulty

Don Juan, Infante of Spain, mentioned as likely successor to King Alfonso. taught to speak. This young Prince has visited London and other European capitals, where the most, eminent specialists were consulted. The utmost efforts of many of the world's best specialists seem to have failed

to effect a cure or even much of an improvement in Don Jaime. So it happens that stock is taken of the third son, Don Juan. He is a healthy, normal, vigorous youngster of 15 years. He enjoys all forms of sport and is quite above par as an athlete. Even at his tender age he has hud active association with the Spanish Army. So the question asked to-day is: If Don Juan comes to England to attend school will it be as heir apparent to the Spanish throne or merely as the third son ol’ King Alfonso? No one has answered the question, for it is not a simple matter to dispose of the Crown.

Don Juan has one staunch backer for the throne —none other than General Primo de Rivera, the present Dictator. General Primo de Rivera is of the opinion that a successful dictatorship hinges to a great extent upon the maintenance of a constitutional monarchy and that the State requires a sovereign with a strong and likeable personality. But the Spanish grandees do not fall in behind the Dictator. They argue that if athletic ability were the criterion demanded, many a loved and excellent ruler would never have ascended the throne. It leaves too much scope for discussion as to whether a man is or ought to be disqualified for certain disabilities. Who is to decide, they ask, what disabilities constitute a bar to the assumption of an office or a title? The Dictator wants the formal announcement of the King’s successor made at once. He believes that the country ought to know who is to be its future king and so become better acquainted with his personality and build up respect aud affection for him. But the grandees’ reply to this is that King Alfonso is comparatively a young sovereign: that there is no reason to assume that he will not reign for many years to come and that it is quite unnecessary to make such a momentous decision now. It is not fair to assume, they say, that both the Prince of the Asturias ami Don Jaime are incurable or that ills may not later on attack the young Prince Don Juan.

The King seems to be on the side of the grandees. He is said to be of the opinion that Doii Juan is too youthful to be proclaimed heir to the throne. In fact the King, in his democratic way, states plaintly that he feels the boy’s youth would be seriously interfered with, his development retarded, if he must immediately begin to play the part of “Crown Prince,” and he prefers to let Don Juan have his boyhood days as carefree as possible. There is another point where King and Dictator lock horns. The Dictator, putting little faith in Parliamentary government, urges that an order in Council is sufficient to impose upon the people a new ruler; that it is unnecessary to have the formal assent of the people’s representatives. The King, with loyalty to the Spanish Parliament, would want a new heir to be approved by a vote of recommendation of that body. That is the present status of the question as to the future King of Spain, but Europe is interested iu whether Don Juan is to go to England, and upon that decision will greatly depend their opinions as to whether this young Prince or one of liis elder brothers is to rule.