Jaime Alfonsín: the key figure in the return of the emeritus king to Spain

Journalist Carlos Herrera, a personal friend of King Juan Carlos, recounted it a few weeks ago in his column for ABC newspaper: "So you can be at ease, I'm leaving," he wrote that King Juan Carlos told King Felipe. The meeting would have taken place in King Juan Carlos's official office, and it would have been Jaime Alfonsín, Head of the Royal Household, who spoke and told the King Emeritus that he had to leave La Zarzuela, because Vice President of the Government, Carmen Calvo, had indicated so.

Soon after, the Royal Household published a letter in which they thanked Don Juan Carlos for his decision to leave the country for a period of time. Now he wants to return to spend Christmas with his daughter Elena and his grandchildren Froilán and María Victoria. Juan Carlos de Borbón wants to return to his usual residence at the Palacio de la Zarzuela, but he has already been denied that possibility. There was speculation that he might go to the family home in Puerta de Hierro, where his sister Pilar lived until her death a year ago. However, that house is up for sale and has remained closed since the passing of Infanta Pilar, so it doesn't seem to be prepared to host the King Emeritus, who will likely choose to go with his daughter Elena this Christmas, then to Sanxenxo for a few days, and will likely start the year in the Dominican Republic with his friend Pepe Fanjul or in Miami at the mansion owned by the Cuban-origin family there.

What seems clearer is that Jaime Alfonsín, the Head of the Royal Household, may have a decisive influence on the King Emeritus's return to Spain, since, no matter how much it's said that Juan Carlos I is free to come and go as he pleases, it's true that the father won't make any move that could harm his son Felipe VI, Head of State, and Jaime Alfonsín now stands in the middle.

But Who Is Jaime Alfonsín? Three months ago, Alfonsín's future didn't seem to be going through a good moment, after speculation about his replacement by Jaime Pérez Renovales, a man trusted by banker Ana Patricia Botín. However, Alfonsín, a State Attorney, has held this position since Felipe VI ascended the throne in 2014, but he had worked for the then prince since 1995. He trained under his immediate superior Domingo Martínez Palomo, Secretary General of the Household, a perfect duo and enjoying the utmost trust of both the monarch and Queen Letizia Ortiz.

His official biography states that Jaime Alfonsín Alfonso was born in Lugo on August 18, 1956. In 1978, he graduated in Law from the Autonomous University of Madrid, obtaining the top extraordinary award of his class.

In 1980, he joined the State Attorneys Corps. As a State Attorney, he served in the Tax Offices of Teruel and Cuenca; in the Ministry of the Presidency; in the Supreme Court and in the Legal Department of the European Union Commission. He held the position of Director General of Cooperation with the Autonomous Regimes of the Ministry of Territorial Administration.

From 1984 to 1992, he was Secretary General and Head of the Legal Department at Barclays Bank, and from 1992 to 1995, he practiced law at the prestigious law firm Uría & Menéndez, who were in charge of drafting the prenuptial agreements before the wedding of the then Prince of Asturias with Letizia Ortiz, and before that, he played a decisive role in the crisis during the courtship with model Eva Sannum. He has also been a Professor of European Union Law at ICADE and a Professor of Tax Law at the Autonomous University of Madrid. He is married and has two daughters.

In December 1995, he joined the Household of His Majesty the King as Head of the Secretariat of His Royal Highness the Prince of Asturias and was appointed Head of the Household of His Majesty the King on June 23, 2014, by Royal Decree 542/2014, of June 23, 2014. They say the first recommendation to join the then Prince's Household came from Aurelio Menéndez, Minister of Education under Adolfo Suárez.

He married lawyer Natalia Uranga, whom he met at the Uría law firm. The couple had two daughters, Natalia and María, who are bilingual in French because they attended Saint Chaumond school. Natalia later went to Francisco de Vitoria University, where she kept a very good relationship with Irene Vázquez, the wife of former minister José María Michavila, a professor at the university who passed away in 2013. The younger daughter, María, studied Law and International Relations at the Pontifical University of Comillas and spent a year on Erasmus at the French university of Nanterre, then did an internship at the renowned Garrigues law firm and is now pursuing a master's degree at Charles III University. She is fluent in English and French. Alfonsín, 64 years old, also holds the Grand Cross of Naval Merit with White Distinction and the Sash of the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle.

Since Felipe VI was prince and since he ascended the throne, Jaime Alfonsín has accompanied him on each and every official trip. Those who have worked closely with him say his main characteristic is discretion. That's why he isn't in favor of exposing the King too much to the media. His position has ministerial rank, but his decisions can't be made in the same way, since here it's about the father of his immediate boss, the King himself and Head of State. He only attends official events that the King attends, and if Felipe VI isn't present, Alfonsín isn't either. When the time comes for photographs, Alfonsín takes a couple of steps back and steps out of the spotlight, which is why there are very few photos of him with the monarchs. Such is his discretion that it was Jaime Alfonsín who was in charge of organizing the prince's schedule during his courtship with Letizia Ortiz, and no one found out until they announced the wedding.

Alfonsín's work, like that of his predecessors, is established by Royal Decree; he directs the General Secretariat of La Zarzuela, the Protocol, Communication, and even the Military Department. Alfonsín also manages the Royal Household's budget, signs contracts, and acts as a link between the King and the Presidency of the Government. As expected, he serves as the official spokesperson of the Royal Household, a function that isn't exactly one of his favorites and in which he has rarely appeared, nothing like his predecessor Rafael Spottorno when he called the media in 2011 regarding the reprehensible behavior of Iñaki Urdangarin, then royal son-in-law.

Some see Alfonsín's hand behind certain signs of openness and transparency, such as the decision to ban accepting expensive gifts or the removal of the title Duchess of Palma from Infanta Cristina. His detractors reproach him that, despite the apparent transparency, the full budget of the Royal Household is still unknown, since the aforementioned budget never appears broken down by ministries, as Security depends on the Interior Ministry, the Palaces on National Heritage, the vehicles on the Treasury's Mobile Park, etc. The total annual amount is known, the 7,800,000 euros the King has for salaries, Zarzuela workers, and current expenses, but not how each euro is spent.

What is certain is that today Alfonsín's voice is respected and valued by King Felipe VI and is taken very much into account. Perhaps Alfonsín won't decide the return of the King Emeritus, but he will certainly be heard.