Are the winds of change blowing in Spain?

Abstract

This article offers a study of the cartoon coverage of King Juan Carlos I of Spain's accident during an elephant-hunting safari in Botswana, which enjoyed major coverage in the media. Using both quantitative and qualitative techniques, the article addresses two questions. First, did the cartoons about the king's safari articulate and help to spread a conservationist message or did they redirect public opinion towards other issues considered to be more important for Spanish society? Second, is it possible to detect a change in cartoonists' attitudes towards the Spanish monarchy from the analysis of these cartoons? The article demonstrates that cartoons can illustrate—better than other narrative texts—changing attitudes towards the monarchy in Spanish society.

An Appendix to this paper that lists all of the cartoons studied is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2013.805014.

KEYWORDS:

• economic crisis
• environmental cartoons
• Juan Carlos I King of Spain
• monarchy versus republicanism
• political cartoons

Notes

1. After the accident, the WWF called an extraordinary meeting on 21 July 2012 in which its members decided to oust King Juan Carlos I as their honorary president by a majority vote.

2. El Mundo, 30 December 2006.

3. El País, 9 January 2009.

4. The Spanish Penal Code punishes mockery, calumniation and slanderous allegations against the Crown as well as the use of the king's image to damage royal prestige (Articles 490 and 491).

5. This parody was shown in the Copa del Rey football match, which was played by Atlético de Bilbao and F.C. Barcelona on 25 May 2012. Forums from both teams encouraged their followers to wear elephant masks, and even sold inflatable elephants for the match.

6. An online video game, called “Call of Dumbo” has been created, in which the king's caricature shoots elephants, while Corinna Sayn-Wittgenstein is carefully watching, taking off her clothes according to the player's good or bad shots.