Juan Carlos
Spain’s former king is said to be planning a home visit
Juan Carlos hasn’t been to Spain for a long time. Photo: Francisco Flores Seguel/Agencia Uno/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Since the criminal investigations against Spain’s former king were dropped, his return from exile was repeatedly expected. Now it should be time. But only briefly and without an overnight stay at home.
According to media reports, Spain’s controversial former king Juan Carlos is planning a first home visit for the coming weekend for almost two years.
This was reported by Spanish media, citing journalist Fernando Ónega, who also published a biography of the ex-monarch. The 84-year-old is expected on Saturday from exile in Abu Dhabi in the port city of Sanxenxo in Galicia in northwestern Spain and will stay until Sunday, wrote the state TV broadcaster RTVE. There was initially no official confirmation.
Meeting in Madrid?
King Felipe VI According to media reports, the day before he had agreed to meet his father in Madrid. Felipe promised that in a phone call to his father, reported RTVE and other media, citing the royal family. The king made the call from Abu Dhabi, where he was on a condolence visit over the death of longtime President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Khalifa bin Sajid.
Although father and son were both in Abu Dhabi, they would not have met. It was not known whether the meeting in Madrid would take place next weekend.
Juan Carlos initially left his homeland on August 4, 2020 for an unknown destination. He later showed up in Abu Dhabi. At the beginning of March, after the end of all criminal investigations against himself, he announced that he wanted to remain in exile for the time being, but would soon be making sporadic visits to his homeland.
The influential daily newspaper “El Mundo”, which is close to the royal family, had reported that Juan Carlos was angry because his son only wanted to allow a short visit to the royal residence Zarzuela near Madrid without an overnight stay. Like the left-wing government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Felipe is intent on averting damage to the royal family by being too close to Juan Carlos.
Monarchy in Crisis
According to a survey conducted a good six months ago, a narrow majority of Spaniards (53 percent) are convinced that the monarchy is an outdated institution that should be abolished. Certainly Juan Carlos is largely to blame for this.
After all, the 84-year-old only escaped criminal proceedings for financial irregularities because he was either protected by his immunity as king until his abdication in 2014 or the actions were statute-barred. Sánchez stressed that the ex-monarch owed the Spanish people an explanation.