Spain’s former king Juan Carlos I held a meeting on Monday with his son, King Felipe VI, following the former monarch’s controversial first visit to his country nearly two years after he went into exile in the United Arab Emirates.
Juan Carlos, who left for Abu Dhabi in August 2020 amid allegations of embezzlement, arrived shortly after 8 a.m. at the Zarzuela Palace, the official residence of the King of Spain, according to Agence France-Presse correspondents.
For the first time since leaving for exile, Juan Carlos sees his son, King Felipe VI, and his wife, Queen Sofia, with whom the former king had long since parted ways. He then leaves for Abu Dhabi at the end of the day. This brief visit by Juan Carlos to Spain, who arrived Thursday evening in a private jet to Galicia (NW) to take part in the rowing race, comes after the Spanish judiciary closed an investigation against him in March on suspicion of corruption and money laundering.
The State Attorney’s Office indicated that it could not prosecute him “due to insufficient evidence of incrimination, statute of limitations and immunity” which he enjoyed as head of state until 2014. However, the prosecutor’s office pointed to the “tax violations” that the former king was convicted of. But revelations about the mysterious origins of his fortune have forever tarnished the image of a man who was loved for decades for guiding Spain’s democratic transition after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.
“Juan Carlos lost the opportunity to give explanations and ask for forgiveness during this visit, which lasted several days,” Isabel Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the leftist government, said. Over the weekend in the Galician coastal town of Sanchinho, Juan Carlos responded curtly: “Explaining what?” When asked by reporters if he was going to tell his son about his behavior. In an attempt to polish the image of the Spanish monarchy since taking the throne in 2014, Felipe VI has distanced himself from his father. In this regard, in March 2020, he decided to renounce his father’s inheritance and withdraw his annual allowance, which amounts to almost two hundred thousand euros. Most recently, at the end of April, together with the government, he launched an operation called “Transparency” in the royal palace, during which he will have to scrutinize his accounts and reveal his contracts, or even take an inventory of gifts received by the royal family. family.
