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Not in the exclusive Casa de Campo resort of his friend Pepe Fanjul in the Dominican Republic, where he could have had Justin Bieber, Beyoncé or Marc Anthony as neighbors . Not in the romantic palaces of Cascais, the aristocratic Portuguese destination close to Estoril where he spent his childhood and adolescence during his family's exile . Not even in the very distant New Zealand, where it has also been speculated that King Juan Carlos could have retired at the beginning of the month, when it was learned that he had landed in the middle after sending a letter to Don Felipe , his son, to convey his decision to leave "out of Spain".

But none of these places was chosen by the monarch emeritus, who is located in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, as the Royal House has confirmed in a statement, since last August 3. There he arrived on a private flight from Vigo after being seen having dinner with some friends in the Galician town of Sanxenxo . And there he remains today, although his initial intention would be to return to Spain in September.

The luxurious yachts of the port of Yas Marina.

Meanwhile, Don Juan Carlos can enjoy the luxuries and excesses of one of the richest countries in the world alongside Qatar, Switzerland, Liechtenstein or Norway, according to the GfK Purchasing Power 2019 report by the German market research company GfK. Not surprisingly, the per capita income of the Persian Gulf country is around 55,000 euros a year , while in Spain, for example, it does not exceed 17,000 for example.

Abu Dhabi is one of the seven United Arab Emirates (USA), a conglomerate created in 1971 that includes Dubai and five other less known but equally wealthy. At the blow of petrodollars (it is the fourth largest oil producer in OPEC), its president, Jalifa bin Zayed, another close friend of Don Juan Carlos, has been building an artificial paradise for lovers of opulence and eccentricities. From a branch of the very Parisian Louvre Museum to the most inclined hotel in the world, passing through the very expensive Emirates Palace, where the former Spanish president seems to be staying. We review the circuit of luxury that surrounds you, the one that offers you the privacy, security and exclusive services that the monarch would be looking for at this time.

Emirates Palace: suites from 8,000 euros per night

The fact of having a gold dispensing machine at the reception as an ATM is just one of the curiosities of the Emirates Palace, one of the most luxurious hotels in the world, if not the most, as The New York has come to point out Times . There are others, like its private raised beach , grain by grain, with the whitest and purest sand brought expressly from Morocco and Thailand. With good reason, the night in one of the 92 suites of this five-star hotel where King Juan Carlos could be accommodated costs from 8,000 euros . As if that were not enough, at Christmas he hangs pieces of jewelry on his typical tree worth 10 million euros. The hotel was ordered to be built in 2005 by the aforementioned president of Abu Dhabi, its official owner, although the Kempinski hotel group , of German origin, who has directed it from then until the beginning of the year , has a single offspring in Spain, the Kempinski. Hotel Bahía, located in Marbella. However, the Mandarin Oriental brand acquired it a few months ago.

The mega-luxurious Emirates Palace hotel.

Yas Marina, the glamor of Formula 1

Abu Dhabi does not lack a Formula 1 circuit. Everything in order to be, for a few days, the focus of attention of half the world. The venue for the championship each year is the Yas Marina circuit , located on the island of Yas, with a length of 5.5 kilometers and no less than 21 malicious curves . There is also the luxurious Yas Hotel, made up of more than 3,500 diamond-shaped steel panels that literally slip in the middle of the slopes. King Juan Carlos has attended the Formula 1 Grand Prix on numerous occasions and has been seen talking with the Spanish Fernando Alonso or Carlos Sainz . Also here the emeritus starred in a delicate controversy when he greeted in 2018 the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohamed bin Salman, who was internationally accused of being the mastermind behind the recent murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Yas Marina, the exclusive port of the emirate.

Unheard of records: the steepest hotel in the world

Although it falls short of the standards of its sister emirate, Dubai, Abu Dhabi also holds some of the most curious records in the world, such as having the steepest hotel on the planet. It is the Hyatt Capital Gate , which has a slope of 18 degrees, or what is the same, four times that of the Italian Tower of Pisa, according to the Guinness Book of Records. This five-star hotel has 189 rooms located 165 meters high. Its modern pools , among the most Instagrammed, also oscillate, of course. Another fact: 'only' 21,000 square meters of glass were used to build the facade.

The Hyatt Capital Gate, the steepest hotel in the world.

The Louvre Museum branch in the Middle East

One of the obsessions of the friend of King Juan Carlos and president of Abu Dhabi, Jalifa bin Zayed, has been to turn the Arab country into a cultural benchmark. To do this, it has pulled petrodollars to take over branches of artistic emblems such as the Parisian Louvre Museum itself, whose replica was inaugurated in November 2017 in the 2,700-hectare cultural district built on the island of Saadiyat , where three other museums are located. , a monumental entertainment center, as well as different parks, several luxury hotels, golf courses and exclusive office blocks and private residences.

The branch of the Louvre Museum in the emirate.

The most impressive mosque on the planet

Inspired by nothing less than the Indian Taj Mahal, the Sheikh Zayed Mosque , or the Grand Mosque of Abu Dhabi, it is the largest in the United Arab Emirates and one of the largest (it has capacity for 40,000 people), most impressive and beautiful of the entire world. There are plenty of figures to earn such titles: it has 1,144 marble columns, four minarets, seven gold-plated chandeliers, 82 vaults, the largest Persian carpet on the planet, with an area of ​​5,627 square meters ... Not in vain 2,000 artisans were in charge of weaving it for about two years.

The monumental Sheikh Zayed Mosque.

And the question is: will this be the final home of the king emeritus?

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