It's lonely Easter.

The whole Spanish royal family used to go to the Easter mass in Palma.

Now only the Emeritus Queen Sofía was in Mallorca.

Juan Carlos still does not dare to return home from his self-imposed exile in Abu Dhabi, while King Felipe, Letizia and their two daughters visited a reception center for Ukrainian refugees near Madrid on Saturday, rather than taking an Easter holiday in the Balearic Islands.

Hans Christian Roessler

Political correspondent for the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb based in Madrid.

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The Spanish Semana Santa marked the anniversary of the beginning of the most serious crisis in the Spanish monarchy, from which it only slowly recovered: In April ten years ago, Juan Carlos not only broke his hip while hunting elephants in Africa, it was broken his relationship with Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn is also known.

He later gave the German businesswoman 65 million euros.

Despite his abdication, retirement from the public eye and move to the Gulf, many Spaniards have not forgiven Juan Carlos.

A good two-thirds find it wrong that the Spanish public prosecutor's office has dropped all investigations against the king after three years.

"Generational break" with the monarchy

A survey published on April 12 by the newspaper Periódico de España shows that younger people in particular are opposed to their former king not being tried like a normal citizen for private financial irregularities, but benefiting from his immunity, he enjoyed as head of state.

Some of the offenses were also statute-barred, and he had corrected other irregularities at the last minute by paying back taxes.

Among the younger Spaniards there is a "generation gap" with the monarchy, which is "seriously delegitimized" because of the corruption allegations against Juan Carlos, says Isa Serra, leader of the Podemos party, which belongs to the ruling left-wing coalition.

For them, Juan Carlos' contribution to the peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy doesn't change anything: "Young people no longer buy the narrative of the transition," says Isa Serra.

The youth organization of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist Party is calling for a referendum on the abolition of the monarchy, which it says has been "exhausted by scandals and is no longer useful for the country".

In the medium term, Spain must become a republic.

Prime Minister Sánchez does not go that far, but has a clear demand for the emeritus monarch.

"Juan Carlos definitely owes the Spaniards an explanation," Sánchez demands.

The inappropriate behavior of the emeritus king was "devastating news for Spanish democracy, as he is evading his tax obligations and willfully circumventing the laws that apply to everyone else," criticized the newspaper "El País" in March.

In order not to harm his son Felipe, Juan Carlos announced in March that he would not be living in Spain again, but only wanted to visit his home country from time to time.

In a letter to Felipe, he regretted his past misconduct "with all his heart".

But she won't let him go.

He is threatened with new court cases in Strasbourg and London.

A few days ago, the left-wing party "Izquierda Unida" and the communists, with the support of Sánchez's coalition partner Podemos, complained to the European Court of Human Rights against the Spanish judiciary for their refusal to investigate the "suspected criminal acts of Juan Carlos de Borbón".

A harassment complaint is already being heard in the High Court in London.

Juan Carlos' lawyers there had previously invoked his immunity as head of state in vain.

Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn accuses him of having been monitored and threatened by Juan Carlos on his behalf;

among other things, her Swiss apartment was broken into.

The German businesswoman, who was married to Johann Casimir zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn until 2005 and has since borne his surname, is suing for compensation.

Juan Carlos maintains his innocence and hopes that he will be spared an embarrassing court date.

The emeritus monarch can no longer "hide behind his position, his power or his privileges," says a statement from the plaintiff's defense: "The outrageous facts of this case are finally being brought to justice."