No matter how much Juan Carlos I told his Sanxenxo’s friends who wanted to return to Spain to attend the 7th edition of the regatta that bears his name this Friday, the former head of state has decided not to put his son in trouble again or further harm the Crown and has postponed his second visit. According to sources close to the emeritus, John Charles I has been advised by some of his friends from Madrid and former collaborators of the Zarzuela so that this second displacement is more discreet and takes place in such a way that it does not become the media spectacle of his first visit, last month.
After those images opening newscasts and newspaper covers and the almost 11-hour meeting at the Palacio de la Zarzuela with his son, Felipe VI, it seemed difficult for the emeritus, who went to live abroad in August 2020, according to what he said, to facilitate the work of his heir, he returned after 15 days to another recreational activity.
On this occasion, The Casa del Rey has not wanted to be a spokesperson for Juan Carlos I and he has not clarified what his plans were, something that he has left in that broad environment that maintains contact with the emeritus from the cities of Sanxenxo and Madrid. La Zarzuela, with some exceptions, stopped reporting the activities of the former head of state in June 2019.
The monarch was eager to return to enjoy the sea in Sanxenxo in the King Juan Carlos regatta (from Friday to Sunday) and, above all, to defend the world title held by his boat, the ‘Rascal‘, in the competition that will take place from Monday, 13, to Saturday, 18, and that will take the best in the 6m category to Pontevedra. Pedro fieldspatron of the ‘Bribón’, has declared to the Efe Agency that the change of opinion responds to “strictly private reasons”.
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According to sources consulted by EL PERIÓDICO, the media and political impact of the first displacement led several friends of the King from his surroundings in Madrid and also former advisers to the emeritus in Zarzuela to take the initiative to warn him these days of the need to plan his visits to Spain with more institutional decorum.
Rafael Spottorno, former head of the King’s House, came to say in public last week that Juan Carlos I had “damaged” the monarchy with his visit. Spottorno considers that the emeritus, the Zarzuela and the Government of Pedro Sánchez must find a solution to the life of the emeritus in Spain, because it would be “catastrophic” if he died abroad. In the opinion of the former head of the House, the monarch should live “wherever he wants”, “reside in Spain whenever he wants” and stay in a “public space of National Heritage or State Heritage”.