Jalón removes king's street name
RETIRED monarch Juan Carlos I's selfimposed exile amidst an international money-laundering probe has led to several towns stripping him of streets named in his honour – the latest being Jalón.
In the Marina Alta, opposition councillors in Pego have called for the town's Avenida Juan Carlos I to be given a new name, and Pedreguer council has already decided to do so with its own.
'Avenida Juan Carlos I' is a common address nationwide in tribute to the 'Rex Emeritus', who abdicated in favour of his son, now King Felipe VI, in 2014.
Although the former king, 82, was something of a hero in the mid-1970s when he and Spain's first elected president, the late Adolfo Suárez, took the country from dictatorship to democracy after the death of despotic leader General Franco, he has fallen out of favour in the past decade or so, especially with younger generations who were not yet born at the time of the so-called 'transition'.
Footage of Juan Carlos I hunting elephants in Botswana; his wife,
Queen Sofía's autobiography revealing her now-estranged husband's affairs with over 1,500 women – including former German countess Corinna zu Sein Wittgenstein – and now, a €100 million moneylaundering case dating back to 2011 but recently reopened, have all served to ruin the new king's father's reputation.
In Jalón, Avenida Juan Carlos I runs from the Camí de la Teulera to the CV750 Alcalalí road interchange, and will now be called Avenida Pla de la Séquia.
"This decision was already on the table months ago, but now it has taken on greater importance in light of the recent information that has emerged concerning the Rex Emeritus," said a spokesperson for Jalón town hall.
It was reported on Monday that the former King had already left the country, but the Zarzuela Palace would not reveal where he had opted to settle.