Spain’s king emeritus Juan Carlos arrives at royal palace after 2 years
Madrid, May 23 (EFE).- Spain’s former king Juan Carlos arrived Monday at the royal palace in Madrid to meet with his son king Felipe VI and other members of the royal family on his first trip to Spain in nearly two years.
Juan Carlos was greeted by some 50 supporters waving flags and chanting ‘Long live the king’ at the entrance of the Zarzuela palace.
The former king is expected to have lunch with his family at the palace before flying back to Abu Dhabi in the afternoon.
Juan Carlos has been in Spain since Thursday when he arrived in Sanxenxo, in the northwestern region of Galicia, to attend a sailing regatta with friends.
On Sunday, he told reporters he was looking forward to seeing his family after nearly two years and was expecting “many hugs” from them.
Juan Carlos has been living in Abu Dhabi since August 2020, when he left Spain amid a series of scandals including alleged illegal credit card transactions and business dealings in Saudi Arabia.
On March 2, Spain’s national prosecutor dropped two investigations into Juan Carlos’ business dealings.
The prosecutor said in a statement that it had not been able to find proof that the former king had received a 65 million euro ($72 million) commission from a Saudi rail contract. EFE
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