King Felipe came out into the ring yesterday and did so minutes before King Juan Carlos set foot on Spanish soil for the second time after his self-exile that began on August 3, 2020. From the Ronda bullring, the King ended up giving him a pass to his father with some words included in his speech before the Ronda teachers that, said at the moment in which they were said, can only be interpreted as the most direct hint that the son has addressed to the father up to now.
It was a wake-up call, a reminder of the commitment father and son made after their first visit last year. If King Juan Carlos wants to normalize his periodic visits to Spain, he has to comply with the objective of avoiding attention.
Ronda was commemorating the 450th anniversary of the Real Maestranza, the military and now philanthropic institution that manages the town's bullring. The King had planned to accompany the people of Ronda in that celebration, but, until yesterday, it was unknown that the words, scheduled to be pronounced behind closed doors, would end up being made public.
The King's message, which is the motto of many other speeches and similar to the one he delivered at the Maestranza in Seville, went like a glove to remember the irrevocable will of Felipe VI to lead his reign with exemplarity and transparency.
It was no coincidence that in his speech the King claimed "loyalty to the Crown and to Spain" or that he considered that the ethical reference for leadership should be the values for the leadership of institutions to "understand privilege as a service to others". A declaration of principles in which Felipe VI clearly distanced himself from Juan Carlos I and from a private life that has a clear public impact.
A thousand kilometers from the unique Andalusian town, at the Vigo airport, the private plane in which King Juan Carlos flew from London landed after 1:30 p.m. yesterday. At the foot of the track, only Pedro Campos was waiting for him, his host for the days he was in Sanxenxo, as happened last year.
Forty minutes later, the car that Campos was driving in which Juan Carlos was in the passenger seat arrived at the Nanín beach area, where the businessman's house is. King Juan Carlos, with a more than serious face, as if saddened, waved his hand, without lowering the window, to the large group of cameras that awaited him.
The stay of the King's father in Sanxenxo, the second in eleven months, is drawn more discreet than the previous one. The only trips planned are between the Campos house and the yacht club facilities to embark on the Bribón, the sailboat, adapted to his mobility problems, with which he wants to revalidate the title of world champion of the 6M modality in the tests that will take place on the Isle of Wight (England).
Yesterday, shortly after King Juan Carlos left London, the clarification from Buckingham Palace also arrived from English territory in which it was reported the non-existence of a meeting between Carlos III and Juan Carlos I, an appointment that from the surroundings of the emeritus was taken for granted when the trip to Sanxenxo was announced. King Juan Carlos flew from Abu Dhabi to the British capital on Monday morning in the same private plane, donated by Emir Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan, in which he landed yesterday in Vigo. Finally, during his stay in London, he dined with a group of friends in a private club and attended, according to all sources, invited by Florentino Pérez, president of Real Madrid, to the Champions League match that the Spanish team ended up beating Chelsea.
The denial of the British royal house, like the words of Felipe VI in Ronda, are, in addition to coincidental, a reminder of the reality of King Juan Carlos.
