Week of speculation about whereabouts of Spain’s ex-king Juan Carlos I

Palma, Spain, Aug 10 (efe-epa).- Speculation about the whereabouts of Spain’s former king Juan Carlos I continued on Monday, a week after he announced his departure from his native country.

Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the country’s interior minister, told press during a visit to Algeria that his safety “concerns the Spanish state”.

The former monarch informed his son, the current King of Spain Felipe VI, on 3 August that he was leaving Spain “in the face of the public repercussions that certain past events in my private life are generating.”

He had recently been named in two probes, one in Switzerland and one in Spain, scrutinizing a high-speed rail deal with Saudi Arabia amid suspicions he received an alleged gift of $100 million from Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah as a kick-back.

His lawyer Javier Sánchez Junco said the ex-king remained at the disposal of the public prosecutor for any procedure or action deemed necessary.

Felipe held a round of hearings with regional authorities on the Balearic Islands on Monday in the city of Palma on the island of Mallorca.

Nothing was said during the meetings regarding his father’s departure, where he is or where he will settle.

Speculation in the media has been rife with Portugal, Dominican Republic, Arab Emirates and New Zealand all named as possible places where the ex-king could be.

There has been no comment from the Spanish royal household as to the former monarch’s location.

Spain’s government has also refused to discuss his whereabouts.