Spain: Juan Carlos I was operated on the heart for a triple bypass

The 81-year-old former king of Spain, Juan Carlos I, underwent a successful heart surgery on Saturday, a woman director of the clinic said. "The intervention went off without incident," Lucia Alonso, manager of the private clinic, on the outskirts of Madrid, told the press.

"We'll see each other at the exit"

"And as is usually the case with this type of procedure, the patient is referred to the intensive care unit for postoperative monitoring," she added in a brief statement broadcast live on public television. Spanish. "The surgery was successful and consisted of three coronary" bypass "bypass," she said. The former sovereign has therefore undergone a triple coronary bypass, to restore a satisfactory blood flow to the heart.

This open heart operation was scheduled following a medical examination in June, according to the Royal Palace. At midday, King Felipe VI, relaxed and smiling, had arrived at the clinic with his mother, Queen Emeritus Sofia. Many journalists were massed in front of the establishment. "We'll see each other at the exit," Juan Carlos told them Friday night, before being hospitalized.

A great figure of Spanish democracy

"I am delighted that don Juan Carlos's operation went as planned," commented on his Twitter account the head of the socialist government, Pedro Sanchez. This was the 17th operation of Juan Carlos of Spain, which had in particular suffered in 2010 the extraction of a benign tumor to a lung, according to public media. He ruled Spain for more than 38 years.

Celebro that the operation of Don Juan Carlos is hated desarrollado según lo previsto. Quiero trasladar knew hijo, Felipe VI, there is to the Real Familia, mi deseo y el de los miembros del Gobierno de una rápida y adecuada recuperación tras esta intervención quirúrgica.

Proclaimed king in 1975 shortly after the death of dictator Franco, he had abdicated in favor of his son in 2014, at the age of 76 years. A great figure in the Spanish democracy, he had helped his country to turn the page of the Franco dictatorship and to integrate into the European Union. The sovereign, however, had seen its popularity tarnished by some scandals having splashed the royal family at the end of his reign.

On May 27, he announced his complete withdrawal from public life, renouncing all institutional activity. But he has been seen regularly in public since, assisting in Spain at bullfights, applauding in France the victory of Rafael Nadal at Roland-Garros, or participating in Finland in a sailing competition.