The day after Mario Vargas Llosa entered the French Academy in April 2023, President Emmanuel Macron organized a dinner party at the Elysee with three guests: the new Peruvian academic of Spanish origin, Javier Cercas, and King Juan Carlos. This is what the latter mentioned in promoting his memoirs, Reconciliation.
According to what the former monarch said in his first interview FigaroThat night he said to Cercas: “How can you believe I was involved in the plot?” But the writer, as he now admits to El Pais, does not remember that phrase or that reprimand. “Since you’re asking me, I have to tell the truth. This is a lie,” he says.
The honorary king commented on this regarding Anatomy of a momentthe book published by Cercas in 2009 about the 23-F coup. Specifically while promoting the series based on the novel – which premieres on Movistar Plus+ on November 20 – the author took the opportunity to comment on it. He emphasizes in his work that the king made a rash mistake. This systematic recklessness in political and military forums may lead to an uprising. Something different than directly accusing him of being involved. When the book appeared, the author mentioned this in Country Weekly: “It is true that the King stopped the coup. We have him to thank for his reaction that night. But it is also true that his reckless actions and desire to put an end to Suarez facilitated it.” By and large, after four years of investigation, Cercas defends that theory with proven testimony and facts.
He did not have the opportunity to discuss the matter with the king until the night of dinner at the Elysee. Macron had brought a copy of Anatomy of a moment To be discussed among the guests. So they did so. But not in these terms that Juan Carlos is commenting on now: “It’s completely false. There was no tension. They talked about it at dinner. Macron read several parts. Then we discussed things. It’s that easy. So, why does he say that? I’m sorry. I don’t know. I won’t make assumptions. But I don’t understand it. I don’t understand why he says something that’s not true. I don’t understand what we gain or what he gains because the truth, for me, matters to me.”
Cercas remembers that there was a good atmosphere, and that he agreed with him on several things. “We commented, for example, that the coup was not just one coup, but three coups. The first, by Antonio Tejero, who carried it out in a Francoist style, to turn Spain into barracks. The second, the coup of General Jaime Milanes del Bosch, who was as inspiring as Miguel Primo de Rivera. The third, the coup of Alfonso Armada, who pursued a government of concentration, like de Gaulle.” This was the thing that hurt Juan Carlos the most, as he admitted Figaro“He was by my side for 17 years,” he says. “I loved him so much and he betrayed me. He convinced the generals that he was speaking on my behalf.”
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