King Juan Carlos, for the first time since he left Spain in August 2020, will spend a weekend in Madrid, thus fulfilling his wishes to normalize his visits. If Sanxenxo has been, on previous trips, his almost only destination, on this occasion he will remain in the capital, where this Friday he landed from Geneva, until next Monday night. His plans are to visit his family and friends, attend the wedding of the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, with his relative Teresa Urquijo Moreno on Saturday, and also be present at the funeral that will be held next Monday in memory of his nephew Fernando Gómez-Acebo.
Only one detail mars the stay of the King’s father in the city where he lived for almost seventy years: he will not sleep in what was his home, the Zarzuela palace, but in a private home provided by some friends. In accordance with his own decision not to use publicly owned facilities during his stays in Spain and also to avoid controversy over his presence in what is, in addition to the official residence of the royal family, the headquarters of the Head of State, the father of Rey has chosen to share time with people with whom he maintains a friendly relationship.
Since leaving Spain on August 2, 2020, King Juan Carlos has been to Madrid on three occasions, the first on April 25, 2022. King Juan Carlos’s first visit to Spain, which was destined for Sanxenxo (where remained between April 19 and 24) did not comply with the expected requirements of discretion and privacy and did nothing more than fuel the controversy over the actions of the previous head of state in the last years of his reign. The trip concluded with an hours-long visit to the Zarzuela, where the King asked him to avoid media exposure in the future.
Although he repeated trips to Sanxenxo and medical visits in Vitoria, the King’s father did not return to Madrid until October 31, 2023 to attend the family celebration for Princess Leonor’s coming of age and, two months later, the December 20, he traveled again to attend the family meal in a Madrid restaurant on the occasion of Infanta Elena’s 60th birthday. On none of those occasions did he spend the night in the capital.
On this occasion, King Juan Carlos has chosen, according to sources close to him, to stay in a private residence although no details have been given about his host or the location. It is known that this Friday, the King’s father has invited a group of friends to a dinner at a restaurant in Madrid.
On Saturday, together with the Infantas Elena and Cristina, he will appear in public at the church of San Francisco de Borja, located on Serrano Street, where at noon the religious ceremony of the wedding between the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez, is celebrated. Almeida, and Teresa Urquijo Moreno. The bride is the granddaughter of Teresa of Borbón-Dos Sicilias, first cousin of King Juan Carlos. Queen Sofia is also invited to the wedding, but she will go directly to the banquet held on a farm owned by the bride’s maternal grandparents. Kings Felipe and Letizia, also invited, do not attend the wedding.
On Sunday, King Juan Carlos will go to the Zarzuela for a meal, called by King Felipe, in which his parents, his sisters, some of his nephews, as well as the children of Infanta Pilar and Infanta Margarita will be present with her husband and children. Everyone will meet again on Monday at 6 pm in the military cathedral of Madrid where a funeral will be held in memory of Fernando Gómez-Acebo y Borbón, who died on March 1.
