MADRID, Spain: Scandal-tainted Spanish ex-king Juan Carlos I visited his son and present monarch Felipe VI in Madrid on Monday, throughout a debatable shuttle house after two years in self-imposed exile. The assembly got here on the finish of the previous king’s first shuttle again to Spain since he moved to the United Arab Emirates in August 2020, following a string of economic scandals that broken to his popularity. As soon as respected for his function in easing Spain’s transition to democracy following many years of dictatorship, the scandal pressured Juan Carlos to abdicate in 2014, after just about 40 years at the throne, after which to go away the rustic.
The 84-year-old former monarch flew into Spain on Might 19 for a three-day regatta within the northwestern area of Galicia that includes his yacht the “Bribon”. He arrived on Monday morning on the royal palace in Madrid immediately from Sanexo, in Galicia. The ex-king had no longer noticed his estranged spouse, Queen Sofia, or his son since he fled to the UAE, dogged via allegations of corruption. In a bid to check out and repair the picture of the monarchy, King Felipe VI has sought to distance himself from his father.
He has no longer visited him in exile and, formally, didn’t discuss to him via telephone till final week, once they organized for Monday’s personal circle of relatives seek advice from. Juan Carlos used to be scheduled to go away for the UAE later within the day, the palace stated. Spanish prosecutors closed their probes into Juan Carlos I’s monetary affairs in March, partially as a result of he used to be immune from prosecution till his abdication and as the statute of obstacles had expired.
That call induced anger in some quarters, which used to be best exacerbated via the ex-king’s go back to Spain. “I feel king Juan Carlos wasted the chance throughout this seek advice from to offer a proof and apologise,” Isabel Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the Socialist executive informed Spanish public radio RNE on Monday. Juan Carlos made best transient, off-the-cuff remarks throughout his seek advice from to Sanexo. “Explanations? What about?” he responded curtly when requested via newshounds outdoor the yachting membership if he would attempt to explain the location when he met his son.
In March 2020, King Felipe ended his father’s annual palace allowance, price a reported 200,000 euros ($210,000), and renounced his personal declare on what he would have inherited from the king emeritus. Closing month, he and the federal government took steps to extend the transparency of the monarchy, by means of a decree requiring the palace to post its finances and make tenders public.
It additionally manner the royal accounts will likely be audited, that senior palace officers will have to claim their non-public wealth on taking on and leaving a put up, and that items given to royals will likely be catalogued. “Felipe VI is doing a really perfect process to revive transparency, which is very important for any state establishment,” Rodriguez stated. – AFP