The article examines the approaches of the Russian press ("Moskovskie Vedomosti", "Russkie Vedomosti", "Novoe Vremia") to the evaluation of the Spanish King Alfonso XIII (1886-1941) at the first stage of his government. During this time he, acting within the powers granted to him by the Spanish constitution of the Restoration era, tried to stabilize the political situation in Spain and raise the prestige of the royal power, is also actively involved in social and political life of the country. Alfonso XIII also sought to raise the country's prestige in the international arena, seriously shaken after the "disaster in 1898". The special attention is paid to the problem of formation of public opinion by the Russian press, on the example of newspaper coverage of humanitarian and intermediate activity of the Spanish king during the First World War. The activity of Alfonso XIII, aimed at protecting the interests of the citizens of the Russian Empire and the Slavic population of Austria-Hungary, in particular, his personal involvement in the rescue of the Austrian authorities was sentenced to death by a correspondent of the newspaper "New time" in Vienna D.G. Yanchevetskiy, forced the Russian public during the war to change the attitude towards Spain, its king and Spanish neutrality.