Juan Carlos I’s first visit to Spain since he was expatriated in Abu Dhabi nearly two years ago is causing concern for the king’s house, which fears the damage the former head of state’s behavior could do to the institution’s image, government sources said .
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Felipe VI imposed one condition on his father’s stay in Spain: that he not stay at the Palacio de la Zarzuela. It was a claim from La Moncloa, which claims the palace is not only the residence of the Spanish royal family, but also the headquarters of the head of state. Don Juan Carlos fulfilled this requirement, but in everything else he did his own will, and the echo that his stay in the country has is exactly the opposite of what La Zarzuela intended.
The King’s House did not want, as the government is demanding, the incumbent monarch to make any statements or apologize for the crimes he allegedly committed, which, according to the records of the Attorney General’s Office, which opened the open trial because they were already prescribed, were protected by immunities he enjoyed as head of state or neutralized by the successive regularizations. Instead, he wanted the first visit to his homeland to be discreet and rigorous, justified by a motivation that society as a whole could understand and even sympathize with, like a medical exam — Don Juan Carlos was openly operated on in 2019, the heart that three bypasses were implanted – or a family reunion.
Far from it, he has returned to take part in some regattas surrounded by his friends, hundreds of cameras and unconditional fans cheering and cheering him on. The arrival of the King Emeritus at Vigo Airport was broadcast live by several channels as if it were a historic event or a state visit, and the Royal Yacht Club became the scene of a pilgrimage of onlookers and an improvised television set.
Two unforgiving sides
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The worst thing for the future of the monarchy, however, is that the visit has split the political parties into two irreconcilable factions, those who condone any illegal act that don Juan Carlos may have committed under the umbrella of sanctity, and those who support the Crown disqualify for the personal conduct of its former owner. For an institution that aspires to represent all Spaniards, there is no inclination more dangerous than identification with one part.
It is also not known that the first thing the king emeritus did after setting foot in Spain was not to appear in the zarzuela to greet Felipe VI. to greet and face him. Not only because he is the head of state, but also because he is the head of the House of Bourbon and of the royal family, which also includes Juan Carlos I. Far from it, he went straight to Sanxenxo and will only pass through the Zarzuela on Monday, before returning to the Emirates, according to the Casa del Rey in a statement.
The excuse implicitly given by the Head of State to justify Juan Carlos I putting his nautical hobbies before fulfilling his institutional obligations is the absence of Queen Sofía, who was in Miami (USA) this week and at the commemorative ceremonies took part from 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation of the world and only returns this Sunday. However, it would have cost nothing to coordinate the agendas of the two kings emeritus.
No less worrying is the fact that on direct flights between Dubai and Madrid (both on Thursday when he arrived and on Monday when he left), Juan Carlos I preferred to travel by private jet. It is an Aruba-flagged Gulfstream G-450 owned by an Angolan business jet charter company. It is not known who paid for this flight, the cost of which runs into the tens of thousands of euros, but it is a flagrant violation of the royal family’s code of ethics, which prohibits its members from accepting gifts “above the usual , socially.” or courtesy”.
The king emeritus had to pay 4.4 million to the Treasury back in February 2021 to precisely regulate private plane flights funded by the Zagatka Foundation, which were considered benefits in kind. Now this question does not arise as Juan Carlos I is a tax resident in the United Arab Emirates (USA) and does not even pay taxes in Spain. But the situation is no less serious, because then it was known that the flights were paid for by his cousin Álvaro de Orleans, and now it is unknown who is paying for them.
In reality, the life of the King Emeritus in Abu Dhabi, as the guest of the Emir Mohamed bin Zayed, comes up against the principles of exemplary character and integrity that Felipe VI. from the beginning of his reign in the royal family, whose oldest member Juan Carlos I.
The sources consulted believe that the king emeritus is unaware of the damage his behavior is doing to the crown’s prestige. Government sources indicate that at 84 he sometimes acts like a capricious teenager. He is unaware that he has done anything wrong and feels unfairly treated, a sentiment fueled by those posing as his friends. Sources close to the king emeritus, on the other hand, claim that he did “as he was told” (after tripartite negotiations between Zarzuela, Moncloa and Juan Carlos I) and that the expectation raised by his presence at Sanxenxo was something that it would have been easy to predict.
At the Casa del Rey, they appear to have assumed that don Juan Carlos is “out of control” according to government sources and are content to keep their distance. You have already warned that Monday’s meeting in La Zarzuela with Felipe VI. and Queen Sofía (which it is not known if her daughter-in-law, Queen Letizia, and her granddaughter, Infanta Sofía, will attend) is strictly private. It is not on the royal public agenda and no media coverage has been announced, but no official act by the king has raised such an expectation in a long time.
Former government presidents are said to be like Chinese vases: no one knows where to put them, lest they get in the way or break. But the former head of state is not sitting still in the corner: in less than a month, from June 10th to 19th, he wants to return to Sanxenxo for the World Cup in his sailing category.