The emeritus king returns to Abu Dhabi after a long talk with Felipe VI and without giving explanations

The emeritus king left the Palacio de la Zarzuela after nine o'clock at night on Monday after spending 11 hours in what was his residence for 57 years.

Juan Carlos I has met with Felipe VI, and both "have had a long conversation about family issues, as well as about different events and their consequences in Spanish society since the King's father decided to move to Abu Dhabi on the 3rd of August of the year 2020″, according to a brief statement from the Casa del Rey.

Next, the king emeritus has participated in a family lunch attended by the kings Felipe VI and Letizia;

the infanta Sofía, youngest daughter of the Kings;

the infanta Elena, sister of the King, and his children;

and the infanta Margarita, sister of Juan Carlos I, and her husband, Carlos Zurita.

As explained by the royal house, Queen Sofía “has not been able to share lunch having tested positive for covid upon her return from Miami, although she has remained with the rest of the family in the lunch room provided with the mandatory mask and the appropriate ventilation measures.

Queen Sofia returned on Sunday from Miami (United States), where she participated in the commemorative events of the 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation of the globe by the Magellan-El Cano expedition.

Precisely, the absence of his wife had been used to implicitly justify that the king emeritus go to Sanxenxo before appearing at La Zarzuela, as would have been logical both family and institutionally.

The Princess of Asturias, who is studying the international baccalaureate at a boarding school in Wales, could not be present at the meeting.

The emeritus king has undertaken the return trip to the United Arab Emirates (USA) on the same plane (a Gulfstream G-450 from an Angolan business flight company), in which he arrived last Thursday at Peinador airport, in Vigo , and that has transferred him this morning to Madrid.

With his departure late on Monday from the Palacio de la Zarzuela, the condition that the Casa del Rey had imposed on him, in agreement with La Moncloa, that he not spend the night in his old home, since it is not a question of only from the residence of the Royal Family but also from the headquarters of the Head of State.

In the statement from the Casa del Rey it is recalled that, in his letter dated March 5, Juan Carlos I stated, "first of all, his willingness to establish his place of residence permanently and stable in Abu Dhabi for personal reasons. ;

and secondly, his decision to organize his personal life and his place of residence in areas of a private nature, both during his visits and if in the future he were to reside in Spain again, in order to continue enjoying greater privacy possible ".

In other words, when he returns to Spain, temporarily or permanently, for which there is no impediment but no date, Juan Carlos I will not stay at La Zarzuela or at any other official residence.

“All this, together with the other points that appear in said letter, constitutes the reference framework for the activities of SM

King Don Juan Carlos”, adds the Royal House.

Although the paragraph seems to open the door to a definitive return of Juan Carlos I to La Moncloa, it does nothing but repeat the statement made public more than two months ago.

During the first four days of his stay in Spain, the king emeritus has participated in the regattas that were held in Sanxenxo (Pontevdra) and has stayed at the house of the president of the yacht club of this tourist town in the Rias Baixas and a personal friend, Pedro Campos, in the middle of a media exposure that has notably upset the King's House, which has probably been the subject of his long talk with Felipe VI.

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Felipe VI meets with his father in a climate of discomfort

In contrast to the media coverage of his stay in Sanxenxo, Juan Carlos I's visit to La Zarzuela has been surrounded by absolute opacity.

The Casa del Rey has not reported during the day who attended the family reunion and has not even anticipated if there would be a press release or graphic testimony of the meeting once it was over.

The agenda of the Royal Family was blank for this Monday, without any official act scheduled, and the Casa del Rey had limited itself to pointing out that Juan Carlos I's visit to La Zarzuela constituted "a family meeting in the private sphere", keeping the mystery of whether there would be news coverage.

The circumstances that have surrounded the first stay in Spain of the emeritus king after 654 days abroad have caused deep discomfort in La Zarzuela, which wanted an austere and discreet visit, after the Supreme Prosecutor's Office filed last March the investigations that it had open on its assets in tax havens, not because it did not appreciate the existence of crimes, but because these would be prescribed, protected by the umbrella of inviolability or neutralized by the two tax regularizations that it carried out in 2020 and 2021.

The stay of Don Juan Carlos has also fueled the division between the political forces around the Monarchy.

The PSOE has not held its tongue when criticizing his conduct, while the minority partner of the Government, United We Can, has directly attacked the Crown.

Among others, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has considered it "unavoidable" that Juan Carlos I give explanations in the face of "very serious" events and has lamented that he has lost a "golden opportunity" to do so on this trip, which He has taken the opportunity only to "go out to the sea and have a barbecue".

On the contrary, the PP has closed ranks around the king emeritus and its new leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has accused the Government of "discrediting the Head of State."

Sources close to Juan Carlos I assure that he has complied with the conditions that were agreed for his return to Spain, which Felipe VI and his father signed in the telephone conversation that both had on the 15th, when the King went to Abu Dhabi to condolences to the Emirati royal family on the occasion of the death of Sheikh Khalifa.

This is the only conversation between father and son that the Royal House has reported in the almost 22 months that the former has been absent from Spain.

The king emeritus has arrived at the Palacio de la Zarzuela at 10:00 this Monday, directly from the airport.

Wearing a jacket and tie, he entered the premises in a vehicle in which he occupied the passenger seat.

Fifty admirers have welcomed him with Spanish flags at the Somontes complex, at the entrance to the estate where the Palacio de la Zaruzela is located, while shouting "Long live the king!"

Juan Carlos I has greeted them with his hand from the vehicle, which has not stopped.

This visit of Juan Carlos I to Spain, surrounded by controversy, will not be the last in the immediate future.

The mayor of Sanxenxo, Telmo Martín, has already announced that he will be back between June 14 and 19, to defend the world title of the 6mR class that he won with the

sailboat in Finland in 2019.