King Emeritus Juan Carlos I returned to Spain this Wednesday in a more discreet way than on his previous visit almost a year ago, the first since he settled in Abu Dhabi persecuted by scandals, and which caused enormous controversy.
Without official announcement, or even confirmation, from the Royal House, the government or any local authority, the Emirati private jet carrying Juan Carlos landed at the Vigo airport (northwest) shortly before 2:00 p.m. (12:00 GMT), according to a AFP photographer on site.
The 85-year-old former monarch arrived from London, where the night before he attended Real Madrid’s victory over Chelsea (0-2) in a Champions League football match.
From the Vigo airport, he traveled to the coastal town of Sanxenxo, the same place in Galicia that he chose in May 2022 for his return to Spain almost two years after leaving to live abroad, coinciding with a regatta in which the sailboat participated. “Rascal”, which historically has captained.
The king greeted the press without making any statements from the car that took him from the airport to the residence in the coastal town of his friend and fellow racer, businessman Pedro Campos, where he last stayed.
Also on this occasion, it is expected that he will sail with his team, and will be in Sanxenxo for the Spanish Cup that will take place on Saturday and Sunday at the Club Náutico in this town, which will be preceded by some training sessions.
Silence of the Royal House
The Royal House has not ruled on this second trip, and the government of Pedro Sánchez has called it personal.
“The government has nothing to comment on this. These are, as you know, personal decisions that are not for us to assess,” government spokeswoman Isabel Rodríguez said at a press conference.
The Socialists’ far-left governing partners were tougher. The visit “is absolutely out of place,” the communist Alberto Garzón, Minister of Consumption, told the press this Wednesday in Congress.
“He does not represent the Spanish, neither those of the left nor those of the right,” and his coming “does very significant damage to the image of Spain, I think it also does it to the monarchy,” added Garzón.
On that first visit after falling out of favor, Juan Carlos did not shy away from the cameras and was acclaimed by the people, irritating the government of Pedro Sánchez and those who believe that he must answer for the suspicions that led to his abdication in favor of his son, Felipe VI. , in 2014.
“Explanations, for what?” Juan Carlos responded on that occasion when asked if he was going to give them to his son.
“Intelligence and austerity”
In March 2022, the Spanish Prosecutor’s Office decided to archive the three investigations related to the monarch’s fortune despite having detected irregularities, alleging the inviolability that he enjoyed while he was head of state (1975-2014) and the prescription of possible crimes.
That first trip ended with a meeting in Madrid with his son in which, according to the Spanish press, he expressed his discomfort at what happened in Sanxenxo.
Later, father and son were seen together at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II of England, in September 2022, and at Constantine of Greece, in January 2023.
In addition to the extreme left, Catalan and Basque nationalists also criticized this new visit.
The parliamentary spokesperson for the Basque independentistas of EH Bildu, Mertxe Aizpurua, asked that the lifetime honorary title of “king” be withdrawn for “democratic hygiene.”
Voices related to the monarchy have expressed their concern about the proximity of the visit of Juan Carlos to the elections on May 28, when the Spanish will elect the governments of their municipalities and those of 12 of the 17 regions of the country.
“It is to be hoped that the trip will be made with intelligence, austerity and discretion, since the controversies involving the father of King Felipe VI are always used by the enemies of the Crown,” claimed the conservative newspaper. ABC.