Spain’s royal family said on Monday that the former king, Juan Carlos, was in the United Arab Emirates, two weeks after he left Spain for an unknown destination amid inquiries into his personal wealth.
The announcement follows a horrific media search for Juan Carlos, whose decision to leave Spain had shocked many of his countrymen.
In a brief statement, the royal family said the former king traveled to the United Arab Emirates on August 3. Reached by phone, a spokesman for the royal family would not confirm the exact location of Juan Carlos, nor how long he planned to stay there. ABC, a Spanish newspaper, published an unconfirmed report this month that Juan Carlos had flown privately from the Spanish city of Vigo to the emirate of Abu Dhabi and stayed in one of the most expensive suites in a government hotel.
Amid health problems and personal scandals, Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014 in favor of his son, who became King Felipe VI.
But recently prosecutors in Spain and Switzerland have opened investigations into a web of offshore foundations, secret bank accounts and business transactions in which people are closely linked to the former monarch. One of the foundations investigated received $ 100 million from Saudi Arabia, which was placed in a secret Swiss bank account. Prosecutors are now examining whether the bail was linked to a Saudi high-speed train contract that was issued to Spanish companies.
Juan Carlos has not been charged, and his lawyer said this month that his client would answer questions from the judiciary if asked to do so.
At the time of his departure, Juan Carlos sent a letter to his son Felipe, in which the former king suggested that he could consolidate the monarchy by distancing his heir ‘from the public imitation that some past events generate in my private life. ”
