MADRID — Scandal-tainted Spanish ex-king
Juan Carlos I
visited his son and current monarch King Felipe VI in Madrid on Monday, during
a brief but controversial trip home after two years in self-imposed exile.
اضافة اعلان
The meeting came at the end of the former king’s
first visit to Spain since he moved to the
United Arab Emirates in August 2020.
Juan Carlos was for decades revered for his role in steering Spain to democracy
following dictator Franciso Franco’s death in 1975. But damaging scandals over
his finances and private life forced him to abdicate in 2014, after nearly 40
years on the throne, and then to leave Spain.
The 84-year-old flew into Spain from Abu Dhabi on
May 19 for a three-day regatta featuring his yacht the “Bribon” — Spanish for
“rascal”. He arrived on Monday morning at the royal palace in Madrid directly
from the regatta venue in Sanxenxo, in the northwestern region of Galicia. He
waved from his car to several dozen sympathizers waiting for him outside the
Zarzuela Palace.
Juan Carlos had
not seen his estranged wife, Queen Sofia, or his son, since he fled to the UAE,
dogged by corruption allegations. He was scheduled to leave
Spain after
Monday’s private family reunion, the palace said.
‘Wasted
opportunity’
The visit followed a March decision by prosecutors to close their
probes into the ex-king’s financial affairs — partly because he was immune from
prosecution while on the throne and because the statute of limitations had
expired. Their decision triggered anger in some quarters, which was only
exacerbated by his return.
Despite the end
to the legal proceedings, the drip-feed of revelations about his opulent
lifestyle, the murky source of his wealth, and harassment claims made by a
former lover have irremediably sullied his image.
In 2012, the
king was hospitalized after breaking his hip during an expensive hunting trip
to Botswana, at a time when ordinary Spaniards were struggling in the throes of
a recession.
Spanish media
was plastered with photos of the rifle-toting monarch, then patron of a
wildlife charity, standing in front of a dead elephant. “I think king Juan
Carlos wasted the opportunity during this visit to give an explanation and
apologize,” Isabel Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the Socialist government, told
Spanish public radio RNE on Monday.
Juan Carlos
dismissed the issue during his visit to Sanxenxo. “Explanations? What about?”
he snapped when asked by journalists outside the yachting club if he would try
to clarify the situation when he met his son.
Transparency
Since he ascended to the throne in 2014, King Felipe VI has distanced
himself from Juan Carlos in a bid to try and restore the monarchy’s image. He
has not visited his father in exile and, officially, did not speak to him by
phone until last week, when they arranged Monday’s visit. In March 2020, Felipe
cut off his father’s annual palace allowance, worth a reported 200,000 euros
($210,000), and renounced his own claim to his inheritance from the king
emeritus.
Last month, he
and the government took steps to increase the monarchy’s transparency via a
decree requiring the palace to publish its budget and make tenders public. It
also means the royal accounts will be audited, senior palace officials must
declare their personal wealth on taking up and leaving a post, and gifts given
to royals will be catalogued.
Spanish media
said Juan Carlos’ fleeting visit followed months of intense negotiations
between his staff, the royal household, and the government, which was
vehemently opposed to him staying at the Zarzuela Palace. When the visit was
announced, Felipe’s entourage stressed that while Juan Carlos now intended to
visit Spain regularly, he would always stay “in private accommodation”.
Juan Carlos is scheduled
to return to Sanxenxo in three weeks’ time for another regatta featuring the
“Bribon”. The ex-king and his crew sailed the six-meter racing yacht to victory
in the world sailing championships in 2017 and 2019.
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