Juan Carlos I returns to Spain this Thursday

King Felipe VI, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía at the National Sports Awards at the Palacio del Pardo (Madrid), on January 10, 2019. Paolo Blocco (Getty)

The emeritus king, Juan Carlos I, will return to Spain this Thursday, and will first go to Sanxenxo (Pontevedra).

On Monday, back in Madrid, he will meet Felipe VI and Queen Sofía at La Zarzuela.

This was communicated early this Wednesday night by the Royal House in a statement.

This is the first visit of the emeritus king to Spain in almost two years.

The text indicates that it was Don Juan Carlos who transmitted this Wednesday afternoon to the Royal House "his wish that [it] make public its decision to travel to Spain from tomorrow [Thursday] the 19th until next Monday May 23."

Juan Carlos I plans to stay during those dates in the Pontevedra town of Sanxenxo, and on Monday the 23rd travel to Madrid to be with Felipe VI, Queen Sofía and other members of his family at the Palacio de La Zarzuela.

That same day, the emeritus king will travel back to Abu Dhabi, where he has established his permanent and stable residence.

The visit is part of "the desire of His Majesty King Juan Carlos to travel frequently to Spain to visit family and friends, and organize his personal life and his place of residence in areas of a private nature, as expressed the letter he addressed to His Majesty the King on March 5", concludes the statement released by La Zarzuela.

As has transpired in recent days, the king emeritus will arrive in Sanxenxo (Pontevedra) to attend or compete in the 6mR class regatta Spanish Cup, in which the

sailboat participates , with which Juan Carlos I won the cup of the world in Finland in 2019.

Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía will meet on Monday at La Zarzuela.

Before, during the weekend, the queen emeritus will be in Miami, as announced by the Casa del Rey also this Wednesday, but before the statement on the return of Juan Carlos I.

Queen Sofia has traveled to Florida for a "private" activity, the statement said.

Her agenda depends on the Royal House, which announces its public acts, but the occasions where she realizes the personal activities of one of its members, nor of the mother of the current monarch, Felipe VI, are exceptional.

In this case, they explain, Doña Sofía wanted to be present at “the activities organized in that city by the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation, coinciding with the arrival in Miami of the Navy training ship Juan Sebastián Elcano”.

Already this Wednesday, May 18, she is scheduled to chair a round table, called

, at the Pérez Art Museum in Miami.

On Friday 20 there will be a presentation of a dictionary and will also have your presence.

The return of Don Juan Carlos has not been free of controversy.

The organization of the trip has been hampered by the Government's objections to the king emeritus spending the night in La Zarzuela, since it is not the private residence of the Royal Family, but rather the headquarters of the Head of State, and the fact that, Although Juan Carlos is exonerated from any criminal responsibility - due to the immunity he enjoyed as the previous head of the Crown, due to the prescription of crimes or due to the fiscal regularization that he presented -, he has not given any explanation or apologized to the Spaniards. for his behavior.

Don Juan Carlos, 84, left Spain on August 3, 2020, when several cases were still open in the Spanish and Swiss prosecutors for his alleged fortune abroad (now those cases have already been filed).