Engendering the Spanish Monarchy: Modernizing or Abolishing?

Abstract

To this day, the Spanish Constitution still sanctions the rule of male preference accession to the throne and, as such, the institution of the monarchy in Spain is not gender egalitarian. This article explores why, in spite of widespread societal consensus around the need to change this, the rule favoring male heirs continues to exist in a broader political context that makes any kind of constitutional reform hugely contested. The article discusses continuities and ruptures in the gendered patterns of behaviour and symbolic representation expected from and enshrined in the current king and queen consort, who have felt pressure to modernize an institution that is increasingly challenged. It finally raises the question as to whether the true feminist path requires going beyond rendering the monarchy gender neutral in the law, and even challenging traditional gender roles within its way of operating and simply abolishing it as a relic of the inherently authoritarian and patriarchal forms of government of the past.

Keywords

• monarchy
• gender
• nobiliary titles
• spain
• spanish constitution
• women