The unexpected message was announced in a letter from the Spanish ex-king almost two weeks ago. Juan Carlos wrote that he would leave Spain forever. The background to the decision is believed to be the high-profile corruption allegations leveled against him.

But why does he go into exile? And what does that mean for Spain and the Spaniards? Thomas Gustafsson is a writer and connoisseur of Spain.

- Juan Carlos was a key figure in Spain's transition from dictatorship to democracy and has been very popular. Previously, one could accept that the upper strata of society were doing black business and mistresses, it was an unwritten rule that the newspapers did not write anything about it. But times are changing.

Elephant hunting became the culmination

According to Thomas Gustafsson, it was after Spain ended up in an economic crisis at the end of the twentieth century that reality caught up with the then king.

- During the economic crisis, Juan Carlos continued to live as before. But it was no longer accepted and the scandals rolled up. The culmination was when he went on an elephant hunt in the middle of the deepest crisis in 2012. The only way to save the royal house and the monarchy was that he abdicated and handed over the throne to his son Felipe.

Want to avoid trial

But now that the allegations of bribery and money laundering have become known, Juan Carlos needed to take more drastic measures. 

- It would pollute the royal family enormously to see Juan Carlos in a public trial. If he stays away, it will probably not be possible to bring him to justice. He does it to save the monarchy, says Thomas Gustafsson.