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Unwelcome guest: Spain's ex-king Juan Carlos
Photo: John Thys/ AFP
According to media reports, Spain's King Felipe VI.
agreed to meet his controversial father and former King of Spain, Juan Carlos, in Madrid.
The Spanish state TV broadcaster RTVE and other media, citing the royal family, reported that Felipe promised this during a telephone call to his father, who lives in exile in Abu Dhabi.
The king made the call from Abu Dhabi.
He flew there for a condolence visit to the former Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and the new President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Sajid.
Earlier, Sajid's half-brother Khalifa bin Sajid, who was President of the Emirates for many years, died at the age of 73.
A date for the first trip of the Spanish old king to his homeland, which he left in the summer of 2020, and an official confirmation of the phone call were not initially known.
King Felipe keeps his distance from his father
At the beginning of March, after the end of all criminal investigations against himself, Juan Carlos announced that he wanted to remain in exile for the time being, but that he would soon be making sporadic visits to his homeland.
The influential daily newspaper "El Mundo", which is close to the royal family, reported on Friday that Juan Carlos was angry because his son only wanted to allow a short visit to the royal residence Zarzuela near Madrid without an overnight stay.
Like the left-wing government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Felipe is intent on avoiding damage to the royal family by being too close to Juan Carlos.
According to a survey conducted a good six months ago, a narrow majority of Spaniards (53 percent) are convinced that the monarchy is an outdated institution that should be abolished.
Juan Carlos should also be to blame for this.
After all, the 84-year-old only escaped criminal proceedings for financial irregularities because he was either protected by his immunity as king until his abdication in 2014 or the actions were statute-barred.
Sánchez stressed that the ex-monarch owed the Spanish people an explanation.
atb/dpa