A painful end of reign. Long revered, the former King of Spain Juan Carlos announced Monday, August 3, to leave his country, after the opening of an investigation for corruption targeting him. Drowning in accusations, the 82-year-old former monarch is on his way to the Dominican Republic, according to the newspaper La Vanguardia but also ABC and El Mundo. Other media say so in Portugal or even in France and Italy. The mystery remains unsolved.

The monarch justified his exile in a letter addressed to his son, Felipe VI, by his desire to “facilitate the exercise of [his] functions”. "Guided [...] by the conviction to render the best service to the Spaniards, to their institutions, and to you as King, I inform you of my considered decision to exile myself, in this period, outside of Spain, "wrote the former sovereign. Juan Carlos' lawyer, Javier Sanchez-Junco, however, clarified that his client was not seeking to escape justice but remained at the disposal of the prosecution. For his part, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Tuesday that he respected this departure, deeming it "worthy of a robust democracy".

This exile is "nothing of a surprise", estimates on the phone, Carole Viñals, lecturer at the University of Lille and specialist in post-Franco Spain. "This decision had been in the pipeline for at least two months. It is not a leak but a way for the monarchy to protect itself," notes the academic. Because, last June, the Spanish Supreme Court announced the opening of an investigation to identify the possible responsibility of the former king in a case of alleged corruption, during the award of a high-speed train contract. speed by Saudi Arabia.

Scandals that splashed the monarchy

Clearly, Juan Carlos is suspected of having received from Riyadh a huge bribe when the construction of a TGV between Mecca and Medina was awarded to a consortium of Spanish companies. But this case is only the latest in a long series of scandals that have splashed the monarchy. Thus, the one who reigned over Spain for thirty-eight years, ensuring the democratic transition of the country, has seen his popularity collapse over the years.

"For a long time he benefited from a broad consensus, even though his corruption was rather well known. But several cases began to appear in the press, after the economic crisis of 2008, such as his account in Switzerland or his sentimental escapades. royalty was also affected: his son-in-law, the former Olympic handball champion, Iñaki Urdangarín was convicted of embezzlement, his daughter the Infanta Cristina was stripped of her title of duchess after a case of tax fraud ... " , explains Manuelle Peloille, Hispanist and professor at the University of Angers.

Above all, one case has particularly marked mentalities. In 2012, as the Spaniards suffered from the Great Recession, they learned that their king had broken his hip ... during a curious elephant hunt in Botswana. A luxury safari paid for by a Saudi friend and organized in the company of Corinne U Sayn-Wittgenstein, a German businesswoman who secretly shared the life of the monarch. Faced with the pressure of the scandal, Juan Carlos ended up abdicating in favor of his son, two years later.

"An elephant killer" for the younger generations

Hard blow for the ex-king, his former mistress will affirm in 2015 that the ex-king had received a commission during the attribution of the construction of the TGV to a Spanish consortium. 

Suspected of having served his interests by serving those of Spain, the ex-monarch now divides the generations. "For the Spaniards who witnessed the fall of the Franco dictatorship in 1975, Juan Carlos primarily embodies democratic transition and progress. But for the generation born in freedom and after the 1980s, he is mostly seen as a killer of 'elephants ", emphasizes Carole Viñals.

Trying to limit the discredit of the monarchy, his own son Felipe VI distanced himself last March, removing an annual endowment of nearly 200,000 euros. Finally, he also announced that he was renouncing the paternal inheritance. Measures that have failed to silence criticism aimed at royalty.

Exile, at the heart of family history

The departure of Juan Carlos now illustrates the fragility of a monarchy struggling to prove its exemplary nature. "In Spain, the royal figure is supposed to embody an image of stability in relation to a government subject to the vagaries of a volatile policy. But this was no longer the case for a long time with Juan Carlos," said the academic. "However, if royalty appears weakened, it remains firmly linked to democracy, by the Constitution of 1978", she adds. In other words, "the crown can be contested, it always remains standing".

Finally, if the exile of Juan Carlos does not entail any concrete consequences for the institution, the gesture remains eminently symbolic. “He himself was born in exile, in Rome. His father, Jean de Bourbon spent most of his life in Portugal and his grandfather was also forced to leave Spain after the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931. The tear of exile thus remains anchored in their family history ", she concludes. 

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