There Juan Carlos saw his son, King Felipe, and his wife Sofia. The palace spoke in an official statement of a “family gathering in the private sphere.”
At the beginning of August 2020, Juan Carlos (84) left Spain like a thief in the night. After being discredited over unclear financial transactions, he voluntarily went to the United Arab Emirates in exile. He said he had come back to Spain to “normalize everything”. He plans to visit Spain again in a few weeks and hopes it will attract less attention from politicians and media.
tensions
The closed four-day visit would have been arranged with difficulty and through long negotiations, according to Spanish media. It also created tensions between the former king and his son Felipe, on the one hand, and between the government and the royal family. On Sunday, an estimated 300 people demonstrated in Madrid against the visit of Juan Carlos. The protesters also called for him to be prosecuted.
Juan Carlos ruled Spain from 1975 to 2014. He officially retired as head of state for health reasons, but kept his title.