King Juan Carlos will not be in Sanxenxo this weekend where the regatta that bears his name will take place prior to the Xacobeo 6mR Worlds sailing world championship. Although the King’s father never confirmed his return to the Galician town, the scene of his first trip to Spain since his self-exile in Abu Dhabi, the truth is that both the organizer of the nautical event and royal host, Pedro Campos, and the mayor of Sanxenxo, Telmo Martín, assumed that King Juan Carlos would be in Galicia between June 10 and 19.
The repeated, and mostly frustrated, plans of King Juan Carlos in Spain, except for the statement issued by Zarzuela on May 18, giving an account of his first trip, have always been known as an intermediary. For months, an imminent visit was announced that, finally, did not take place until on May 19, Juan Carlos landed at the Vigo airport on board a private plane on loan from the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi. On this occasion, the dynamic has been the opposite, the former head of state’s entourage has been letting it slip for a few days now that although it does not completely cancel his trip, he is considering shortening his stay in Sanxenxo and looking for new scenarios for his stays in Spain.
King Juan Carlos left Sansenxo on Monday, May 23, after spending three days between Pedro Campos’ house, the yacht club and the sea, and he did so euphoric. Not only for having achieved, as he longed for months, to return to Spain, but for having received popular affection and having been reunited, even if it seems like a minor thing, with green landscapes and rain, after months of sand and drought. At the time of departure, he promised his hosts to come back and enjoy this weekend’s regatta and the championship held between June 14 and 18, but when leaving Zarzuela, where he spent eleven hours that same Monday, and had a four-hour conversation with the King, his expectations were no longer the same.
His return to Spain, despite speaking in the private sphere, generated great expectation and aroused reactions not only from public opinion, but also from the political class and from the Government itself, which did not exactly fit the image of a discreet travel. The illusion of King Juan Carlos to return again cooled down and, with time, he accepted that his announced return had to be postponed for the good of all, of himself and also of the Zarzuela. The purpose of the first trip, which was none other than to normalize the visits of King Juan Carlos to family and friends, was not fulfilled and everything seems to indicate that in recent days the idea of ??these trips has been reformulated so that they are less visible. The will of the King’s father to reside in Abu Dhabi and travel to Spain whenever he wishes must be made compatible with the desire of the Zarzuela not to alter the functioning of the Crown and with the demands of the Government not to reside, not even sporadic, in no publicly owned residence. The first attempt has been unsuccessful and that is the reason why King Juan Carlos has backed down, hoping not to add new controversies that do nothing but delay, and perhaps prevent, what is his objective: to achieve in return permanently to Spain in the future.
The key to a new return is in a new format in which everything is not concentrated in Sanxenxo, where they have not yet given up the opportunity for King Juan Carlos to be there next week, focusing on the regattas and also on himself same.
