The Diplomat
The King emeritus has finally opted to remain in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he moved to in August 2020, although he has told King Felipe VI of his willingness to travel frequently to Spain to visit family and friends now that the Attorney General’s Office has closed the investigations against him.
She has made this known to her son in a letter dated 5 March, three days after the Prosecutor General’s Office made public its long-awaited decision, which Zarzuela has made public at her express wish so that Spaniards may know her decision.
After months of speculation about when and where the former King of Spain for almost four decades would return to Spain, Don Juan Carlos has decided that the best thing for him, and indeed for his son, is to remain in Abu Dhabi, where he now has his residence, although he has not closed the door to a definitive return, reports Europa Press.
Although he considers it “appropriate”, given the decision of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, to consider his return to Spain, “although not immediately”, Don Juan Carlos explains to Felipe VI that he has taken the decision, “for reasons that belong to my private sphere and that only affect me, to continue to reside permanently and stably in Abu Dhabi, where I have found peace of mind, especially for this period of my life”.
However, he clarifies that, “as is natural”, he intends to travel “frequently to Spain, which is always close to my heart, to visit family and friends”. When this happens, “whether on my visits or if I return to Spain in the future, it is my intention to organise my personal life and my place of residence in areas of a private nature in order to continue to enjoy the greatest possible privacy”, he specifies.
With this, the King emeritus also seems to settle the debate that has arisen over where he would live in the event of a return to Spain, given that his entourage had made it known that he wished to settle in Zarzuela, but this would put his son, who lives next door and who has tried as far as possible to keep his distance from his father, in a delicate situation.
Felipe VI, for his part, “respects and understands the will” expressed by his father in the letter, according to the Royal Household in its communiqué, thus accepting the decision taken by the King Emeritus.
