Juan Carlos I leaves Galicia after five days in Sanxenxo (Pontevedra)

King Juan Carlos I took off this Sunday afternoon from Vigo, thus leaving Galicia after spending the last five days in the Pontevedra town of Sanxenxo, where he has attended the Spanish Sailing Cup regattas.

After landing in the city of Olivia after 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the emeritus king arrived this Sunday at around 6:00 p.m. in Peinador. In a car driven by his friend, the businessman Pedro Campos, Juan Carlos I greeted the press who were waiting for him at the door of the Vigo airfield from the passenger seat.

Minutes later, with the help of his escorts, he boarded a private plane with a destination, according to TVE, Vitoria.

In this way, the emeritus would thus extend his stay in Spain for personal reasons, before leaving for Abu Dhabi, where he has resided since 2020. According to various reports, everything indicates that he will visit one of his reference doctors, the traumatologist Mikel Sánchez.

The trip of King Juan Carlos to Galicia has been characterized by discretion and privacy, since he has not dedicated a single word to journalists, despite the fact that a multitude of media have followed his movements every day since he landed in Galicia.

Unlike his last visit, which took place almost a year ago, on this occasion the emeritus has limited himself to greeting communication professionals, without stopping to talk to them in any of his meetings.

At the moment, he has not visited Zarzuela this time either to meet King Felipe, as he did in May 2022, when after spending a few days in Sanxenxo, he made a stopover in Madrid to meet with his son.

After it, the Casa del Rey reminded Juan Carlos in a statement that in his letter notifying him that Abu Dhabi would be his permanent residence, he had also told him that when he visited Spain he wanted to do it with "the greatest possible privacy."

Then, the message apparently reached the emeritus, since he did not return in June for a new regatta as had been anticipated, and in the following months he has maintained an unusual silence, without resorting to his closest entourage to convey messages about his intentions or about his life in Emirati exile.

VISIT SANXENXO

Just over three and a half hours of navigation aboard the Bribón 500 has been added by Juan Carlos I since he arrived in Sanxenxo on Wednesday. The departures on Thursday and Friday served both the king emeritus and his crew as 'training' to face the regattas of the Spanish Sailing Cup that was held this weekend in the municipality of Pontevedra.

However, the emeritus did not go sailing on Saturday or Sunday due to bad weather conditions. Even so, the 'Bribón', his boat, was proclaimed the winner of the Volvo Autesa Cup this Sunday.

A little less than a year ago (in mid-May 2022) the former monarch made the same trip with the same objective: to participate in the competition tests. However, if there is something that has marked the difference between the two stays, it was his schedule.

If in 2022 the media knew and anticipated the steps of the emeritus king, this year the passage of Don Juan Carlos through Sanxenxo has been characterized by discretion and privacy.

After passing through the province of Pontevedra, the emeritus now flies to Vitoria. In addition, it will not be the last visit of Juan Carlos I to Spain this year, since he plans to return to Sanxenxo in June.