From king to "an ordinary person, one more vacationer"

2023-04-22T20:59:49.641Z

Felipe VI's father maintains an almost invisible profile in Sanxenxo, without receptions and limiting his exposure to trips from Pedro Campos' house to the jetty where the 'Bribón' docks

In September 2000, the mayor of Sanxenxo, Telmo Martín, spoke of the imminent visit of King Juan Carlos I to the Galician tourist municipality: "Historical visit", "historical opportunity", "Sanxenxo will receive the King as it deserves", to the which cheered a crowd and fed them Padrón peppers, octopus from the island of Ons, squid from Portonovo, Jabugo ham, shrimp from Sanxenxo, scallop empanada, wild turbot stew and barnacles from Ons.

Wine from Adega Dosán.

Café de pota and a queimada, to finish, made by the then president of the Xunta, Manuel Fraga.

In April 2023, the mayor of Sanxenxo, Telmo Martín, spoke of the visit of King Emeritus Juan Carlos I to the Galician tourist municipality: “Anyone who comes to Sanxenxo is always welcome.

Whoever he is: from the world of business, politics, culture, etc.

We are happy to have people here every day.

And King Juan Carlos is one more person among all.

Will I meet him?

No, no... I can't have meetings with all the people who come to Sanxenxo!

Today I am magnificently accompanied by President [Mariano] Rajoy and many of the colleagues on my [electoral] list, and we are going hiking, which is the important thing today”.

Between one declaration and another, more than two decades have passed and several judicial scandals for which there was no request for forgiveness or apologies after the crimes accredited by the Prosecutor's Office and dismissed due to the inviolability that the emeritus king enjoyed until 2014, for having prescribed or for paying the Treasury the defrauded amounts in relation to his hidden fortune.

Something has also happened: the inconvenience of the presence in Spain of a king forcibly exiled to Abu Dhabi that La Zarzuela frowns on.

That is why the coldness of an active institutional position, such as the mayor of Sanxenxo, or the immobility of the president of the Xunta, Alfonso Rueda (who did say days before that he would welcome him "with open arms") contrast with the words of a former president of the Government, outside of active politics, like Mariano Rajoy:

"You have to normalize" the visits of the king emeritus and "there is no reason for someone to insist on putting on the show" every time he comes.

"It is a sign of normality," he insisted in an electoral act this Saturday in which he defended that Juan Carlos I "led" the Transition and is a major figure in the history of Spain.

Meanwhile, the emeritus captains only the

Bribón

and there is no trace of him in the town.

The coverage is more pink than political.

The attraction for the neighbors is the presence of Pipi Estrada, a commentator on heart and soccer programs.

The profile of Felipe VI's father, rather than low, is almost invisible: he moves from Pedro Campos's house to the breakwater where El

Bribón

docks without stopping anywhere.

There are no receptions, there are no meetings with the media, he does not lower the window nor does it seem that, except for surprises, there is going to be a rumored excursion to the Casa Checho restaurant, in Ons, one of his favorite places.

In 2000, Ruth González Reyes was the Councilor for Culture of the City Council of Sanxenxo and was in the front line of the massive reception procession for the Monarch at that time.

What do you think that the king emeritus expects to come to Sanxenxo regularly?

"That seems fine to me.

He is one more vacationer, one more person.

If this benefits the people?

Personally, I think that the film that is being assembled around him is unnecessary.

He is a man retired from public life who has the right to live.

More information

The king and the sea

The hospitality industry is clearer.

Francisco González, head of the Nanín Spa Hotel, member of the Sanxenxo Consortium of Tourism Entrepreneurs and the Galician Tourism Cluster, of which he was president, believes it is "extraordinary news" that the emeritus king visits the Galician tourist capital.

“Direct hit: none.

The 20 journalists who are here and stay in a hotel, that is, they benefit little in cash.

Indirect impact?

Very much.

TV minutes are worth millions.

The images of the beaches and the port of Sanxenxo on all televisions, millions.

How much is that advertising worth?

How much is that brand positioning worth?

Why did the Mallorcan businessmen buy the king a ship to sail there?

If you want to come six weeks a year, the restaurateurs here will be delighted”.

Juan Carlos de Borbón did not get out of the car this Saturday.

It is a sunny and very windy day.

He arrived at the jetty, spent an hour in the vehicle and went back.

The unconfirmed reason is that there were too many knots of wind to risk his presence on the boat.

"He fell off the call," joked a photographer, "don't fall off the boat."

But tonight, Saturday night, on the occasion of the Spanish championship regatta in which he has come to Sanxenxo to participate, a dinner is planned at the Real Club Náutico which will be, if he attends as scheduled, his only event in public outside the well-known route between the house of Campos and the

Bribón