King Emeritus Juan Carlos returned almost two years after leaving Spain

When there was little left for him to complete two years of self-exile away from Spain, King Emeritus Juan Carlos will return to the kingdom next weekend. But only for one visit.

the first time he set foot on Spanish soil again since he was forced to change his alleged financially inappropriate address to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, in August 2020.

Now, with the relief of the cases investigating him filed in Spain, Juan Carlos goes home. He will be heading to Galicia, in the town of Pontevedra Sanxenxo, where Bourbon enjoys one of his passions: regattas.

That has yet to be confirmed her son will be together againKing Felipe VI, in Madrid, next week.

On Sunday, May 15, Felipe, who inherited a lathe from his father when he was still alive in 2014, was in Abu Dhabi, but he was not identified. They hardly talk on the phone.

regattas

It was a lightning trip to the institution, which took two and a half hours, to offer condolences to Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for the death of his half-brother Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, Emir of Abu Dhabi and Head of State of the United Arab Emirates.

The Royal House confirmed the telephone conversation between Juan Carlos I and his son Felipe VI, and at the next meeting in Madrid.

The Spanish they found out on the next visit of the king who ruled Spain for 39 years on Monday, a holiday in the Community of Madrid for the festivities of San Isidro, its patron.

Because Juan Carlos ’financial and emotional turmoil caused morbidity and gave lyrics to anti-monarchists who wanted to see the end of the Crown in Spain, those who continued to pay homage to the monarchy were doing it more and more quietly. .

In fact, the 50-euro Mango dress which Queen Letizia wore a few days ago to a winner at a ceremony in Mérida has aroused more interest than having Bourbon in Galicia.

Not concerned about his levels of popularity, the emeritus king, who turned 84, I don’t want to miss the regattas held on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 May in Sanxenxo and where the predecessors of the world championship in June.

From the Real Club Náutico de Sanxenxo they confirmed that Juan Carlos’ boat, the rudeis ready for competition.

The last time the king emeritus passed through Sanxenxo was in 2019, when he attended the Rey Juan Carlos regatta and led the 6-meter Spanish Cup trophy ceremony, accompanied by one of his daughters, the infanta Elena.

don’t even think about coming back

Elena and Cristina, children of Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia, are the only ones in the family who regularly visit the emeritus in Abu Dhabi. And they even staged a scandal in February 2021: on the occasion of visiting their father, the babies were vaccinated against Covid-19 in the Emirates even before the date on which they had to be vaccinated in Spain.

In March, five days after the Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office filed three ongoing investigations into the accounts of Juan Carlos I, the man Franco chose to rule Spain on his death in 1975, he wrote a letter to his son , the current king, telling him he plans not to move from the Emirates. But yes He wanted to go to Spain often.

“I prefer, at this time, for reasons belonging to my private area and affecting only me, to continue to live permanently and firmly in Abu Dhabi,” Juan Carlos said in the four -paragraph letter. who signed not as king but as father.

“I know the importance of past events in my private life and that sincere patience”, He admitted.

“I also feel legitimate pride in my contribution to democratic unity and freedom in Spain,” he added.

The Prosecutor’s Office considered it impossible to open a criminal case against Juan Carlos for allegedly collecting commissions on the works of the high-speed train to Mecca. And that this cannot be done because of the use of cards with undeclared funds or because of alleged accounts in tax havens.

To the emeritus’ satisfaction, insufficient evidence was found, the crimes prescribed or Bourbon is protected by the non -compliance of his duty when he performs those acts.

King Juan Carlos de Borbón knew, however, that he would never live in the Palacio de la Zarzuela again. For this reason, in his letter, he goes on to confirm this: “If in the future I return to live in Spain, I aim to organize my personal life and my place of residence. in private places“, wrote.

Juan Carlos had already used the epistolary route to inform his son, King Felipe, that he was leaving Spain. He did so on August 3, 2020 when, without admitting where he would change his residence, announced his self-denial.

“With the same desire to serve Spain that inspired my reign and provided the public impact that some past events have brought to my private life, I would like to express my full availability to contribute to facilitating the performance of your dutiesfrom the silence and calm that your high responsibility requires, ”the emeritus wrote previously.

He still has to face the harassment complaint filed against him in the United Kingdom by Corinna Larsen, the best friend who has done nothing but complicate his life.

The London High Court confirmed Juan Carlos he has no legal immunity there after his resignation, to continue the harassment lawsuit.

Domestically, the return of the king’s father shaking the waters of Spanish politics. No party remains indifferent to his imminent return to the homeland.

“It would be nice if all the Spaniards knew what he thought about the events he was involved in, but other than that, what we have is a person she travels to her country to see her children. I don’t think that is more relevant, ”said Eva Granados, spokesperson for the PSOE, the majority party in the government’s coalition, in the Senate.

“For a father to talk to his son is normal. We always respect the decisions made by the Crown in this matter”, said the general coordinator of the Popular Party, Elías Bendodo.

“Come on or not, no one will take away the shame of what he did”Aítor Esteban, spokesman for the Basque Nationalist Party in Congress, preferred to say.

“Spain is a rotten state that allows the return of a corrupt king,” said Josep Rius, spokesman for Junts per Catalunya, the Catalan pro-independence party founded by former president Carles Puigdemont, a refugee in Belgium from unconstitutionally he declared the independence of Catalonia in 2017.

PB