The former Spanish king Juan Carlos I left his country for an undisclosed destination, hours after the royal palace published a statement expressing his intention to leave, due to the repercussions of some events on his private life.
In a letter he sent to his son Felipe VI, 82-year-old Juan Carlos I said that his decision to leave the country was due to his desire to facilitate the tasks of his son the king, in peace and quiet, he said.
The announcement of this decision is accompanied by developments in judicial investigations regarding Juan Carlos receiving $ 100 million from Saudi Arabia, in exchange for his mediation to conclude a deal to build the train line linking Mecca and Medina.
With much speculation about his exile, the Spanish newspapers, Vanguardia and Apsi, said on Tuesday that the former king had gone to the Dominican Republic. The first newspaper stated that Juan Carlos arrived in Portugal by car on Monday morning and then flew from there to the Dominican Republic, where he intends to stay for a few weeks when a family reaps its wealth from sugar cane cultivation.
Earlier, Portuguese media said that Juan Carlos is in the town of Cacheçe - a resort near the Portuguese capital of Lisbon - where the former Spanish king spent some of his childhood years.
In September 2018, a judicial investigation was opened after the publication of records attributed to Juan Carlos' former mistress, Corina Larsen, in which she confirmed that the king received a commission by granting Spanish companies a huge contract to build a high-speed train line in Saudi Arabia.
In a brief statement on Monday, former king's lawyer, Javier Sanchith Junko, said that his client would "remain at the disposal of the prosecutors' office" despite his decision to leave the country.
Spanish monarchs enjoy judicial immunity while in office, but Juan Carlos abdicated the throne to his son in 2014, which could make him vulnerable to trial.
King Felipe suspended his royal allocations to his father, and announced his abdication of his inheritance from him last March after allegations of secret accounts abroad.
Juan Carlos sat on the throne in 1975, after the death of General Francisco Franco, and received great respect for his role in leading Spain from dictatorship to democracy, but his popularity collapsed in subsequent years due to a series of scandals, which led him to abdicate.