42 Europe The EconomistJuly 25th 2020
2 ecutoroforderingtheraid.ByJuly11thMr
RadevwassayingMrBorisovrana “mafia
government”andurginghimtostepdown.
MrBorisov’stermendsnextspring,but
hemaynotlast thatlong.Axinghis fi-
nance,economy,interiorandculturemin-
isterswasmeanttodeflectblame,butit
hardlysuggestsstrength.DimitarBechev,a
political scientist at the University of
NorthCarolina,thinkshehaslostcontrol
oftheagenda:voterssuspectheisbehold-
entoMrDoganandMrPeevski.Butearly
electionswould bringlittlerelief. Apart
fromMrBorisov’sconservativegerbparty,
onlytheSocialistsarestrongenoughpo-
tentiallytoforma government.Theyare
seenaslittlebetterthangerboncorrup-
tion,andarefriendlytowardsRussia.
Allthishasmadefora roughsummer.
Bulgariahandledthefirststageoftheco-
vid-19epidemicwell,withatoughlock-
down.EarlythismonththeEuropeanCom-
mission accepted its entry into the
“waitingroom”foradoptingtheeuro.But
covid-19caseshavebeguntorise,andthe
scandalsarea reminderofhowlittlepro-
gresshasbeenmadeagainstcorruption.
“Thestateofdemocracy,thestateofthein-
stitutionsandthequalityoflifehavebeen
going backwards rather than forwards,”
saysRuzhaSmilova,a politicalscientistat
SofiaUniversity.AtleasttheweatheratMr
Dogan’svillahasbeenmarvellous. 7W
ithout theAcropolis, the rocky hill-
top crowned by the gleaming pillars
of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon, Athens
would be just another down-at-heel city in
southern Europe. This summer, because of
covid-19, fewer tourists than usual have
shown up to admire its painstakingly re-
stored marble temples, built to celebrate
the ancient Greeks’ victories over invading
Persians and revered as symbols of western
civilisation. But the absence of crowds has
made it easier to spot an emerging threat to
the distinctive Acropolis skyline.
A few hundred metres south of the hill,
in a neighbourhood called Makriyanni, an
illegally constructed ten-storey hotel
looms over scores of four- and five-storey
apartment blocks. From some angles the
hotel shuts out the view of the Parthenon,
and is distinctly less attractive. Coco-Mat, a
hotel company controlled by Libra, a
Greek-American shipping group, built it in
2018 under a law passed during Greece’s fi-nancialcrisisthatlets buildings exceed
height codes if they include a “green” roof.
But in place of the luxuriant Mediterranean
garden the company promised, it built a
rooftop swimming pool and restaurant.
Angry Makriyanni residents sued the
company. An online petition attracted
nearly 50,000 signatures. In April the pow-
erful Central Archaeological Council (kas),
which advises the culture ministry, ruled
that two floors should be lopped off the ho-
tel, cutting its height from 37m to 24m. The
culture minister backed kas; now Athens’
city authority must approve the two floors’
demolition. The Council of State, Greece’s
highest legal body, weighed in, too, setting
a height limit of 21m (six floors) for new
buildings in Makriyanni. A presidential de-
cree confirming the ruling is expected in
September.
But more needs to be done to protect the
Acropolis from greedy property develop-
ers, says Irini Frezadou, a Swiss-trained ar-
chitect and local activist. Half a dozen com-
panies have applied for planning
permission to build hotels in Makriyanni.
Even if the height limit is respected, new
hotels could spread horizontally. One pro-
ject that has got permission includes sever-
al underground parking lots, which oppo-
nents say would create congestion and
annoy pedestrians.
Dimitris Pandermalis, an archaeologist
who runs the nearby Acropolis museum,
home to sculptures from the temples and
other treasures, notes that the ancient
Athenians used a simple formula to pre-
vent overbuilding. Less than a century after
the Parthenon was completed, a decree was
passed making it illegal for a private build-
ing to stand higher than a public one. Per-
haps today’s rules would be better respect-
ed if developers had to worry about being
presented with a cup of hemlock. 7ATHENS
Hotel development obstructs the
ParthenonGreek ruinsAttic views
The gods, and urban planners, disapproveB
ack in march, as Spain was distracted
by pandemic and lockdown, the royal
household quietly announced that King
Felipe had renounced his inheritance and
cancelled the salary of €194,232 ($225,173)
he was paying his father, Juan Carlos, who
abdicated in 2014. The move was prompted
by revelations that Felipe was a beneficiary
of two foundations linked to Juan Carlos,
both registered in tax havens. The Swiss
bank account of one is alleged to have re-
ceived a $100m payment from Saudi Ara-
bia, of which €65m was transferred in 2012
to Corinna Larsen, Juan Carlos’s Danish ex-
lover. (She claims this was “not to hide the
money” but because he “hoped to win me
back”.) Prosecutors in Switzerland and
Spain are investigating. The Spanish press
continues to publish leaked letters from
Ms Larsen’s lawyers suggesting that she
tried (and failed) to get Felipe involved.
Installed as monarch on the death of the
dictator Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos was
long respected for safeguarding Spain’s
transition to democracy. He played a cru-
cial role in quashing a coup in 1981. His
clubbable manner concealed insecurities.
Franco’s choice of him as king prompted a
breach with his own, exiled, father. In his
childhood “money was a matter of con-
stant problems,” he told a friend. King Fel-
ipe grew up watching his father “collect
lovers as if they were state gifts”, according
to Lucía Méndez of El Mundo, a newspaper.
Juan Carlos’s fall from grace began in
2012, when he broke his hip while ele-
phant-hunting with Ms Larsen in Bo-
tswana, revealing their relationship to the
public. His level-headed successor, Felipe,
has largely lived up to his promise of a “ren-
ovated monarchy for a new era”. He now
faces the prospect of his father being
charged, though as king emeritus Juan Car-
los can be tried only in the Supreme Court,
and the statute of limitations may save
him. The left-wing coalition government
has publicly nudged Felipe to chastise his
father further, perhaps by evicting him
from the Zarzuela Palace.
Ousted three times between 1808 and
1975, the Spanish Bourbons are still on pro-
bation. Republican sentiment is growing.
“The monarchy isn’t doomed,” says Charles
Powell of the Elcano Royal Institute, a
think-tank. “But Juan Carlos is toxic and
Felipe will struggle to win back the respect
and confidence he had won. There’s very
little sympathy for the institution now.” 7MADRID
His father’s shenanigans are hurting
King FelipeSpain’s monarchyA tarnished crown