Barcelona Returns Portrait of Spanish King to City Hall Per Court Ruling

MADRID (Sputnik) - Catalonia's capital has complied with the ruling of the Spanish Supreme Court and reinstalled the portrait of King Felipe VI on a wall in the city council, Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau said on Friday.

Spain's top court ordered Barcelona to reinstate the portrait of Felipe VI on 6 July, saying that it is a requirement for all Spanish constituencies. The king's portrait, as well as the bust of his father, Juan Carlos I, were removed in 2015 in line with a unilateral decision of Catalonia's authorities.

"We will follow the directions of the judicial institutions. Despite our personal opinion, we will never jeopardize the institutions and civil servants of the city council", Colau told the Catalan legislature, as the small portrait was being hung back on the wall — far from its central spot, however.

The mayor said she was proud that the nationwide debate on state symbols was launched by Catalonia and that the bust of Juan Carlos I, whom she described as a "corrupt" person who "fled to an Arab dictatorship," was gone for good.

In 2014, Juan Carlos I abdicated in favour of his son, Felipe VI, but kept the title of king. Last March, Felipe VI cut his father off from the royal budget and stepped back from his inheritance after the ex-monarch got implicated in an international corruption scandal. In August 2020, Juan Carlos I left for the United Arab Emirates.