SHAME, SHAME ON THE KING!

I know this is old news by now, but my interest in this story is not the exotic hunting trip while Spain is facing economic ruin, but the fact that King Juan Carlos went to Botswana to hunt elephants which are among the most endangered species in Africa. This is not the first time he’s gone on an elephant hunting trip. In 2006, he posed in front of a dead elephant, rifle in hand. Ironically, the king is the honorary president of the World Wildlife Fund's Spanish branch.

Shame, shame on the King! For hunting a majestic animal that is an endangered species, Juan Carlos should have broken his neck instead of his hip. You’ll not hear ‘Long live the king’ from me!

KING JUAN CARLOS OF SPAIN OPERATED ON AFTER ‘ELEPHANT HUNTING’ ACCIDENT
Spain’s King Juan Carlos, 74, underwent surgery after an accident while he reportedly hunted elephants in Botswana

By Fiona Govan

The Telegraph
April 14, 20121

MADRID -- He was operated on for four hours to replace his hip at a hospital in Madrid on Saturday morning, after suffering a triple fracture which the Royal Palace said was "linked to arthritis".

The accident happened in Botswana during what the palace described as a private hunting trip.

Many Spaniards reacted with anger, with criticism of his expensive hobby at a time when his nation is mired in economic crisis with high unemployment and real suffering, especially for the young.

Adding to the embarrassment for the royal family, a few days ago on Monday his eldest grandson, Felipe Juan Froilán Marichalar y Borbón, 13, shot himself in the right foot with a shotgun during target practice at a family estate north of Madrid.

His father was questioned by police for allowing his son to use a firearm without a license, which can only be issued in Spain to those over 14 years old.

It was not the king's first hunting controversy. In 2006 there were reports that while on holiday in Russia he had shot and killed a performing bear called Mitrofan which had first been fed honey mixed with vodka.

News of the accident broke on the day that many Spaniards marked the anniversary of the birth of the Spain's Second Republic when on April 14 1931, the last king, Alfonso XIII went into exile.

It set off fevered controversy within Spain and brought more unwelcome scrutiny on a Royal family that traditionally has enjoyed the kind of privacy and respect that the Windsors could only dream of.

"The King, in this situation of economic distress and the dramas that affect millions of people, instead of being in his office puzzling over the fate of his country is instead hunting exotic animals and endangered species, " said Basque politician Julia Madrazo at a rally in Bilbao to commemorate the Second Republic.

"This April 14 has given us a fine account of a day in the life of our King, full of privileges of the past." Spain's left-leaning daily newspaper El Pais speculated that the monarch had been on a trip to hunt elephants in Botswana, where sanctioned elephant hunting is allowed to cull herd numbers.

Andres Gutierrez Lara, president of the Spanish Federation of Hunting said it would cost between 7,000 and 20,000 euros to shoot an elephant on top of travel costs.

The palace declined to disclose how the trip had been funded. It comes just weeks after the monarch publicly expressed his worry over the state of Spain's economy.