Juan Carlos fails to make amends on return to Spain

FORMER Spanish king Juan Carlos has missed an opportunity to ask the people of Spain for forgiveness, according to the country’s government as the exmonarch ended his brief but controversial return to home soil after two years in self-imposed exile.

The 84-year-old, who abdicated over his finances and private life, was due to fly back to Abu Dhabi last night after refusing to bow to pressure to offer an explanation.

“I think king Juan Carlos wasted the opportunity during this visit to give an explanation and apologise,” Isabel Rodriguez, spokesman for Spain’s Leftwing government, told Spanish public radio RNE.

Juan Carlos chose to spend his first three days on Spanish soil participating in a regatta with friends in Sanxenxo, northwestern Spain.

Yesterday, Juan Carlos flew in a private jet from Vigo to Madrid for a private meeting with his son, King Felipe, in the Zarzuela royal residence in the capital.

He had not seen his estranged wife, Queen Sofia, or his son since he fled to the UAE in August 2020.

Juan Carlos was recently cleared of having to face charges over alleged financial impropriety because of the immunity he enjoyed before abdicating in 2014.

However, the probe by Spanish prosecutors revealed tens of millions of euros in unpaid taxes on undeclared funds he had held in Switzerland and the Channel Islands.

Last month, King Felipe and the government took steps to increase the monarchy’s transparency via a decree requiring the palace to publish its budget and make tenders public.