Read in Catalan

It's easy to see that at least parts of the Spanish monarchy are visibly rotten. So what keeps it standing? As the Juan Carlos I exile controversy continues to burn, a look around Twitter this Tuesday afternoon revealed that a number of analysts had reached a single conclusion on the matter: that it is the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) which is propping up the Spanish monarchy. To be specific, this opinion found a lot of on-line support just after the appearance of Spain's Socialist prime minister Pedro Sánchez at a press conference in Madrid, his first media appearance since yesterday's bombshell announcement by the Spanish royal house.

After a press session in which the Spanish PM refused questions on the specifics of the crisis and simply expressed confidence in Spanish institutions, pro-independence activist Albert Pereira concluded that Sánchez's message was clear, and he had shown his colours unashamedly. "The Spanish monarchy could not survive with the support of only the right-wing parties, which are monarchical by nature. The support of the PSOE is essential. And Sanchez has come out to say that that won't change," he said, adding: "The PSOE is the linchpin of the monarchy." 

In a second tweet, he compared today's situation in the Spanish state with 1931, the last time a Spanish monarch went into exile, opening the way to the country's Second Republic: 

"A big difference between the current situation and that of 1931 is that then the entire Spanish left was republican, and now the PSOE gives full support to the monarchy. That is why the PSOE is the most important party for the regime: the monarchy isn't falling - nor will it fall - thanks to the PSOE ", he concluded.

Basque journalist Jonathan Martínez agrees that as long as the PSOE governs, the Spanish monarchy will continue. "It's sad, but for the monarchy to fall, the PSOE must fall," he said. A similar view was expressed by journalist Ignacio Cembrero in TV network La Sexta, taking it as a given that the Spanish monarchy will not collapse because the PSOE is propping it up.

Francesc Vilallonga, professor at Barcelona's Ramon Llull University, believes that, in practice, the entire Spanish government is a party to this support - junior coalition partner Podemos included. "Right now, the fundamental pillar that holds the monarchy is the PSOE-Podemos government. Only with the right would it have fallen," he said.

Others criticized prime minister Sánchez for posting a tweet making a commemorative reference to the founding of the Second Republic (on April 14th, 1931), when he himself is a mainstay of support for the monarchy.

"Dear Pedro @sanchezcastejon," says José Luis Aires, "this [celebration of the Republic] is not compatible with what was stated today at your press conference. Don't keep on deceiving the public in this regard. You prop up the monarchy just as PP, Cs and VOX do. PSOE voters, please, if you are Republicans, open your eyes to how Pedro is behaving".

This afternoon, the day after the storm broke over Juan Carlos I's decision to go into exile, the Spanish prime minister used its planned press conference to reiterate it support for the Spanish monarchy and the constitutional regime which began in 1978, while refusing to explain his government's intervention in the lead-up to the king emeritus's move, alleging that it is "a confidential matter".

The Spanish PM even avoided explaining which country the former king had flown to, claiming he simply didn't know. “I have no information on where he is,” he commented.