“¡Una gracia de caritat per una infelís nació que acaba de gastarse en cohets y banderetas els últims xavos que li quedavan!”starse en cohets y banderetas els últims xavos que li quedavan!”

an approach to the coronation of Alfonso XIII from the Catalan satirical presslan satirical press

Abstract

Alfonso XIII's pledge of allegence to the Constitution took place on his sixteenth birthday, 17 May 1902, a very turbulent time for the country both politically and socially, over and above the recent colonial losses. The satirical magazines in the capital made few references to it, but were mainly critical of the politicians in power and made jokes with local humour. For their part, in Catalonia, these media mocked the Alphonsine monarchy and its celebrations, but they were also a pretext for caricaturing both the politicians and the Restoration regime itself. One of the main questions asked was what Spain had to celebrate given the difficult situation in which it found itself, and the ceremony seemed to be an attempt to cover up the reality of the country with rockets and pennants.