Editor's note: Pedro Brieger is an Argentine journalist and sociologist, author of several books on international issues and contributor to publications in different countries. He is a professor of Sociology at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). Director of Nodal, a portal dedicated to news from Latin America and the Caribbean. He is a TV columnist on the Argentine channel C5N and on the program «En la frontera», on PúblicoTV (Spain) and on programs on the Argentine stations Radio10, La Red, La Tribu and LT9-Santa Fe. Throughout his career , Brieger has won important awards for his informative work on Argentine radio and television. His Twitter account is @PedroBriegerOk. The opinions expressed in this column belong exclusively to the author. See more opinion pieces at CNNe.com/opinion.
(CNN Spanish) - "His Majesty is sad because he has to leave so as not to return," sang the band La Gran Orquesta Republicana de Mallorca in 1999. This song, one of many in the antimonarchical and republican repertoire, surely sounded in many homes at the It is known that the emeritus king Juan Carlos left the Kingdom of Spain on August 2 with an uncertain destination.
Juan Carlos' statement was brief and addressed to his son, King Felipe VI. There he recalled that he had been king for almost 40 years that some events in his past private life were "generating certain events", and that for that reason he had decided to move out of Spain. The news fell like a bomb in a country where there are those who claim the monarchy and others who propose abolishing the institution to turn the Kingdom of Spain into a republic.
- MIRA: Justice does not contemplate precautionary measures against the emeritus king for his departure from the country
The former head of state failed to mention that aspects of his private life are not private, since several of the accusations against him for tax evasion and collection of commissions were during his reign, and he is being investigated for alleged irregularities in the contract of the concession of the fast train to Saudi Arabia. In reality, nothing of what the members of the monarchy do is private, nor the details - still unknown - of the king's departure from Spain or knowing his whereabouts.
- MORE: King Emeritus Juan Carlos: What You Should Know About His Scandals Before Justice And Politics
There is a famous phrase attributed to the writer Ramón María del Valle Inclán in reference to Alfonso XIII -the grandfather of Juan Carlos- who fled in 1931 when the Second Republic was proclaimed and died in exile. "The Spanish have thrown out the last Bourbon, not as a king, but as a thief," says the phrase that now circulates on Spanish social networks.
The departure - flight? - of the king emeritus shows that the Spanish monarchy is not untouchable, as its own history teaches. And the kings are the first to know.
King Juan Carlos I