Spanish aristocrats row over rights of succession

Noble families feud over law abolishing male primogeniture
King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia
Male primogeniture survives in the royal family of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. But even though the king's oldest child is a daughter, he has made it clear that the rebels do not have his support. Photograph: Daniel Ochoa De Olza/Associated Press

For centuries Spain's senior aristocrats, the grandees, ruled in feudal glory but a recent split in their governing body reveals they can no longer run even themselves.

A faction of grandees and nobles have walked out of the Deputation of the Grandees, the body that has represented them for the past two centuries, as tempers fray over changes to the rules governing the way titles are handed down.

"There is a split. Some of the oldest families are involved," said one of their leaders, the count of Bilbao, who did not want to give names.

At the root of the rebels' decision to abandon the governing body lies a 2006 law that abolished male primogeniture. Titles must now be passed down the eldest child, regardless of sex.

"I don't think it is fair that my son, who grew up expecting the title, should not get it," said the count. "My daughters don't want the title, but there are three of them and they are all older."

The count complained that the Deputation of the Grandees, which unites 900 of the country's 2,300 titled aristocrats and acts as a consultant body to the interior ministry, has done nothing to defend inheritance by primogeniture laid down in the individual charters for each title.

In many cases the charters are centuries old. "The deputation does not represent us any more. It has tried to fool us," claimed the count, who said attempts to find common ground had failed.

The law was introduced with cross-party approval after Spain's highest courts ruled against 20 women who had demanded that male primogeniture rules for noble titles be struck down for contravening equality laws.

The rebels have formed the rival Spanish Nobles Association, which is challenging the legal change. The titles have no money or properties attached to them.

Some grandees have accused the newspaper editor Pedro Ramírez of El Mundo of being behind the change, which benefited his partner, the designer Agatha Ruíz de la Prada, who contested the title of Marquess of Castell dos Rius. Ramírez and Ruíz de la Prada have denied the accusations.

The legal change has pitted brother against sister in many families, including that of the Spanish Nobles Association secretary, Miguel Temboury, whose family are counts of Labajos and Las Infantas.

Temboury, a lawyer, says his faction of nobles believes the law should be applied only to titles created after 2006. "It is a question we want the constitutional court to decide on," he said.

The grandees have brought King Juan Carlos into the row. "We are in contact with the royal household over this," the count of Bilbao confirmed. In a letter to the monarch, the rebels claimed the law was a "violation perpetrated against us".

The rebels see the fact that male primogeniture survives in the royal family, even though Juan Carlos's oldest child is female, as one reason for restricting the new inheritance law. The king has made it clear, however, the rebels do not have his support. "The new regulations for noble titles should make you look to the future," he told the deputation last year.

There is a broad consensus for abolishing male primogeniture in the Spanish royal family, but that requires going through the complex process of changing the constitution. The rebel nobles warn, however, that any attempt to do so might run the risk of seeing Prince Felipe challenged for the crown.

The Deputation of Grandees did not answer requests for an interview.