Spain's king sets fights against unemployment, graft as priorities

Madrid, Dec 25 (IANS/EFE) Spain's King Felipe VI has established the fight against unemployment as Spain's top priority and said that combatting corruption was an "inescapable objective".

Felipe Wednesday delivered his first Christmas address since assuming the throne June 19 upon the abdication of his father, Juan Carlos, who had announced June 2 he was stepping down.

In his 12-and-a-half-minute message from Zarzuela Palace, which was carried by the country's main television networks, the monarch also alluded to the situation of Catalonia, where nationalist groups are promoting increased sovereignty for the northeastern region, stating that he was concerned such efforts might produce an "emotional rupture" and demanded respect for the Constitution, which guaranteed coexistence and plurality in Spain.

The king's Christmas address -- the most important speech each year by the monarch -- was much anticipated, not only because it was to be the first of Felipe's reign, but also because it came two days after it was announced that his sister Princess Cristina, would go on trial for alleged tax fraud in a case in which her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, will be tried for corruption.

Without specifically alluding to that matter, Felipe said that the fact that those responsible for "irregular conduct" were "being held accountable" was proof that the state of law was operating properly.

The king's remarks come after Spain has been rocked by assorted corruption cases over the past year, and corruption -- after unemployment -- is held by Spaniards to be the country's second most important problem, according to opinion surveys released by the Sociological Research Centre.

"The great majority of public servants carry out their duties with honour and willingness to serve the public interest," said the king before adding that, nevertheless, it was necessary to prevent irregular conduct from "taking root in our society and reproducing itself in the future".

The public needed to be sure that "public funds are being administered for legal... ends, that no preferential treatment for occupying positions of public responsibilities is being given, that serving in a public office is not a means for profiting or enriching oneself; that our prestige and good image in the world is not being tarnished", he emphasised.

Felipe also touched on the country's economic crisis, the "harshness and duration of which produces uncertainty" and is a cause of "serious concern", although he noted that the main macroeconomic measures were improving with economic growth recovering and unemployment -- which at the end of September stood at 23.67 percent -- going down.

--IANS/EFE

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