This month in Madrid, the King chaired the plenary session of the National Committee to commemorate the fifth centenary of the Council of State, the oldest in Europe (1526) and perhaps in the world. During his intervention in law, he regretted that “what he did and what he did” often “disappointed” the organization for the entire community, and he recalled that for him it was “very unknown” until he visited it for the first time when he was studying law at the Autonomous University of Madrid. The fifth centenary, too, should be an occasion “to make up for this lack of knowledge, to reveal what is happening and what is happening,” and to do so, without a doubt, “in clear and comprehensive language, which is another of the great rights of the world of rights in its relationship with citizens.”
Felipe VI highlighted the importance of the highest advisory body of the government “as a reason for coexistence” in “troubled times” and “the promotion of democratic freedoms”, an unforgettable process that he also began to celebrate this year, referring to the middle signature of Franco’s death and the beginning of the transitional period, after the restoration of the monarchy in Spain. Precisely this month, his father, Juan Carlos I, who was not invited to the institutional event celebrating the anniversary of the monarchy, broadcast a video in which he claims his “legacy” and promotes his book of memories, which will be offered for sale in Spain These Miracles.
The head of government, Pedro Sánchez, noted that the Council of State, headed since March 2024 by former Vice President of the Executive Power Carmen Calvo, “was born in a world that resembles nothing like the current one,” and stressed its advisory function of presenting more “needs” to the Executive Power, in many cases, meaning “after heated discussions.” Sánchez also emphasized its “educational” function in “teaching that shared authority is better than isolated authority, and that a society that deliberates is much freer than a society that improvises.”
Carmen Calvo stressed that the body she heads “serves the public interest” and “works to improve democracy and bring legal rigor to the rule of law” by opening “spaces for calm reflection in times that require clarity and wisdom.” Quoting its founder, Emperor Carlos V, Sinalo: “There is no power stronger than that which is sustained by the rule of the wise.”
The committee meeting this afternoon will be responsible for designing the program of events to commemorate the organization’s fifth centenary, with special attention to its counterparts in Europe and Latin America.