King Felipe and his father have "had a long conversation" about "family issues" and different "events and their consequences in Spanish society" in the last two years -since King Juan Carlos self-exiled to Abu Dhabi- , during the meeting they held at the Zarzuela palace, as reported by the Casa del Rey in a statement.
Zarzuela details that King Juan Carlos shared a family lunch with King Felipe and Queen Letizia and their young daughter, Infanta Sofía, which was also attended by Infanta Elena and her two children and Infanta Margarita and her husband, Carlos Zurita.
In his letter, Zarzuela leaves open the possibility that King Juan Carlos will return to reside in Spain. It does so in the last paragraph of the statement, which reiterates the will expressed by the former head of state to "establish his permanent and stable place of residence in Abu Dhabi for personal reasons" and anticipates his "decision to organize his personal life and his place of residence in areas of a private nature, both during his visits and if he were to reside in Spain again in the future, in order to continue enjoying the greatest possible privacy".
According to the statement, "Doña Sofía has not been able to share lunch having tested positive for Covid upon her return from Miami, although she has remained with the rest of the family in the lunch room provided with the mandatory mask and ventilation measures. corresponding".
The Casa del Rey made the statement public at 9:25 p.m., minutes after King Juan Carlos's car headed down the road to Barajas airport, after spending the day in Zarzuela.
It has been eleven hours of meeting. Juan Carlos arrived after 10 in the morning, at the checkpoint that gives access to the Zarzuela Palace. He was sitting in the passenger seat of a dark vehicle, and he waved, with the glass lowered, to the fifty people who were waiting for him with Spanish flags, along with the journalists who were covering the information on his arrival.
A few minutes later, the long-awaited reunion with King Felipe took place, in which father and son were able to talk extensively.
After lunch and after-meal, the first to leave the Zarzuela, in the middle of the afternoon, were the Infanta Margarita and her husband, and the children of the Infanta Elena.
King Juan Carlos is scheduled to leave the executive terminal at Barajas airport around 10 p.m., according to the specialized website Flightradar this afternoon.
With the statement released tonight, after the family reunion in the Zarzuela, the Casa del Rey officially closes the visit of King Juan Carlos to Spain.
Last Wednesday, the eve of his arrival in Sanxenxo, the official confirmation of the visit was also produced through a first communication from the Casa del Rey, in which both the trip and the stay in Galicia of the king emeritus were reported, as well as his willingness to travel to Zarzuela on Monday to hold a meeting with King Felipe VI, Queen Sofía "and other members of her family". The three-paragraph statement indicated at the beginning that King Juan Carlos had asked his son to make public "his decision to move to Spain" from Thursday, May 19 to Monday, May 23. It also specified that on the same Monday, After the family reunion, the emeritus king would return to Abu Dhabi, "where he has established his permanent and stable residence."
From Zarzuela they also stressed that the visit of King Juan Carlos is part of his desire to "frequently travel to Spain to visit family and friends" as well as to "organize his personal life and his place of residence in areas of a private nature" , as he transferred to his heir in the letter dated March 5.
