I want to continue to live a long and stable life in Abu Dhabi for the time being, Carlos said.
Madrid:
Madrid’s Royal Palace said Monday a week after the country’s prosecutor’s office dropped two investigations into allegations of fraud in his business dealings.
Juan Carlos, 84, who left Spain for the United Arab Emirates in August 2020, has been the subject of multiple money laundering investigations by Spanish and Swiss authorities over the past two years.
The Spanish prosecutor’s office has been investigating Juan Carlos over payments allegedly received in connection with a speedboat contract in Saudi Arabia. The decision to release the probes – following a similar move by Swiss prosecutors last year – was made after investigators failed to find enough evidence of criminal activity.
The decision to drop the investigations has sparked speculation about whether the former king would consider returning to Spain.
Juan Carlos said he considered that option after the prosecutor’s decision but refused to do it immediately, he wrote in a letter to his son, King Felipe of Spain, on May 5. March but was launched by the Royal Palace late on Monday.
“For personal reasons and that only affects me, I would like in this moment to continue to live a long and stable life in Abu Dhabi, where I have found tranquility,” he wrote.
The former king said he would return to Spain often to visit family and friends but would stay in his own room. He added that would continue to do so if he finally decided to live in Spain again.
Juan Carlos ascended the throne in 1975 after the death of General Francisco Franco and is widely respected for his role in helping lead Spain from dictatorship to democracy.
But his popularity dwindled in the following years due to a series of scandals, prompting him to resign in 2014 and then leave the country in a move widely seen as defending his son’s monarchy. his son.
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