Spain’s disgraced former monarch Juan Carlos I resurfaced on Monday in an unexpected video targeting younger audiences, released just days before his memoirs are due to hit shelves in Spain. In it, he defends his legacy and warns against what he describes as historical ‘distortions’.
The 87-year-old ex-king has been living in self-imposed exile in the United Arab Emirates since 2020, following a string of financial and extramarital scandals that severely damaged his standing at home.
Once hailed for helping steer Spain through its delicate transition to democracy after the end of Franco’s 36-year dictatorship in 1975, his reputation has since suffered a spectacular fall. ALSO READ: Spain’s disgraced ex-king’s memoir spills secrets on Franco, extramarital affairs & accidentally killing his brother.
In the video, published 48 hours before the Spanish release of his memoirs, Juan Carlos addresses ‘young Spaniards, especially those who do not know the history of Spain’. With a Spanish flag waving behind him, he says: ‘I want you to know that your parents, your grandparents and many Spaniards, united, managed to carry out an exemplary transition’ in ‘very complex circumstances’.
He explains that he decided to write the memoirs so younger generations ‘can learn about the recent history of your country without distortions, told by someone who lived through the transition at first hand’.
The royal household distanced itself immediately, stating it ‘knew nothing about this video’, adding: ‘we do not understand what goals it pursues. And we do not see it as necessary or appropriate’. ALSO READ: Spanish PM on former king’s memoir: ‘Not one of the books I recommend this Christmas’.
Juan Carlos’s attempt to reconnect with both his family and the Spanish public comes after the memoir, titled Reconciliation, was first released in French last month. However, passages offering praise for Franco — the dictator who personally designated Juan Carlos as his successor — sparked controversy during this year’s commemorations marking five decades since the regime’s end.
The former king closes the video with an appeal for unity, urging Spaniards to support his son and current monarch Felipe VI, to whom he ceded the throne in 2014, ‘in this difficult task of uniting all Spaniards’.
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