Juan Carlos: Spain’s ex-king returning to country after two-year exile

Spain’s Royal Household has confirmed controversial former King Juan Carlos will end his near two-year exile later on Thursday with a short visit to Galicia and Madrid.

Journalist friend Fernando Onega had identified this Saturday as the date of the 84-year-old’s return to Spain from his Middle East bolthole on a radio programme on Monday.

Telmo Martin, mayor of the Galician resort of Sanxenxo, subsequently confirmed the royal would be watching or participating in a regatta this weekend.

Late on Wednesday the Royal Household made its first official statement, confirming: “Juan Carlos has informed Spain’s King he would like to make public his decision to travel to Spain from May 19 until Monday May 23.

“He plans to stay during those dates in the Galician town of Sanxenxo before travelling to Madrid on Monday to be with his son King Felipe VI, his wife Sofia and other members of his family at the King’s residence The Zarzuela Palace.

“That same day he will make his return to Abu Dhabi, where he has established his permanent and stable residence.

“This visit reflects Juan Carlos’ desire to travel frequently to Spain to visit family and friends, and organise his personal life and residence within a private context.”

The former King is expected to touch down at Vigo Airport on Thursday afternoon before being driven to the modest home of his friend Pedro Campos, president of a Sanxenxo sailing club, a 40-minute drive away where he will stay.

The two-storey villa has stunning views of the Pontevedra Estuary but is a far cry from the £3billion seven-star Emirates Palace Hotel which has been his home for the past 21 months after he was engulfed in corruption scandals which have tainted his reputation.

The former King’s’ shock departure from Spain in August 2020 led to an intense questioning of the country’s monarchy led by its then vice-president Pablo Iglesias.

His retreat to Abu Dhabi came after Swiss prosecutors opened an investigation into bank accounts allegedly held by Juan Carlos in tax havens.

Spain launched its own investigations based in part on information shared by Switzerland including one about cash the former king allegedly received as part of his involvement in a high-speed Saudi Arabia rail contract.

Juan Carlos, in a letter to Spain’s current king Felipe VI announcing his decision to leave his homeland, wrote “Guided by my conviction I can offer the best service to Spaniards, its institutions and to you as King, I am communicating my decision to move away from Spain.

“It’s a decision I am taking with deep feeling but with great serenity.

“I have been King of Spain for almost 40 years and during that whole time, I’ve always wanted the best for Spain and for the Crown.”

He signed off the letter: “With affection as always, your father.”

It later emerged he had already left Spain by the time the letter was released by the Royal Household.

In March Spanish state prosecutors paved the way for Juan Carlos’ temporary return to Spain by shelving the criminal probes against him, saying any alleged crimes were spent or his Head of State status at the time protected him from prosecution.

The decision was taken after he paid millions of pounds in tax regularisations.

Last week Spain dropped a probe into suspicions national firms paid kickbacks to build a high-speed rail link in Saudi Arabia.

Juan Carlos still faces a possible trial in the UK for harassing former lover Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

She is suing him in the UK and High Court judge Mr Justice Nicklin ruled recently the claim can go ahead after throwing out his lawyers’ argument he is “entitled to immunity from the jurisdiction of the English courts in his capacity as a senior member of the Spanish royal family.”

Juan Carlos, who was groomed by Francisco Franco but played a key role in defeating a 1981 coup d’etat led by sympathisers of the late dictator, reigned as King of Spain from 1975 to 2014 when he abdicated in favour of his son.

The corruption scandals he has been caught up in since he handed over to King Felipe VI, whose wife Letizia is a former journalist, have left his reputation in tatters.

He has not seen his son in person since he left Spain for the Middle East.

King Felipe VI failed to meet up with his father during an official visit to Abu Dhabi at the weekend to pass on his condolences following the death of the United Arab Emirates’ president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan aged 73.

The pair spoke by phone only and it was reported at the time they had arranged to meet up in Madrid at an unspecified date.