King Juan Carlos Leaves Royal Spanish Life and Heads to the Dominican Republic

MADRID, KOMPAS.com – Spain’s former King Juan Carlos made a surprise exile announcement on Monday where he has reportedly taken refuge in the Dominican Republic.

King Juan Carlos has been embroiled in several scandals in recent years including having a central role in an alleged $100 million corruption scandal.

The 82-year-old Spanish royal revealed on Monday that his decision to leave Spain was to help his son, the reigning King Felipe VI, to “exercise his responsibilities".

The letter, published on the royal palace's website, did not mention where the former king would go, nor when exactly he would leave the country.

But on Tuesday, daily newspaper ABC reported that he left Spain on Sunday and flew to the Dominican Republic via Portugal.

The La Vanguardia and El Mundo dailies similarly said he planned to stay with friends in the Caribbean country, but online newspaper El Confidencial said he could be in Portugal, where he spent part of his youth, or in France or Italy.

Asked by AFP about the reports, a royal palace spokesman refused to give any information about Juan Carlos's whereabouts.

"The only information we have is the information which was published on the website of the royal palace yesterday. It is the only information which we have," he said.

The ex-king's lawyer, Javier Sanchez-Junco, issued a statement Monday saying his client was not trying to escape justice by going into exile and would remain available to prosecutors.

Popular for decades

The former head of state has been under a cloud since various media reported that he allegedly received funds from Saudi Arabia and probes are now under way in both Switzerland and Spain.

Spain's Supreme Court announced in June an investigation to determine the legal responsibility of the ex-monarch — but only for acts committed after his abdication in 2014, because of the immunity he holds.

The suspicions centre on $100 million (85 million euros) allegedly paid secretly into a Swiss bank account in 2008.

After a series of media revelations, Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez spoke out in July saying "the entire Spanish population are receiving disturbing information which is troubling for us all, including me".

Juan Carlos ascended the throne in 1975 on the death of the fascist dictator Francisco Franco and ruled for 38 years before abdicating in favour of his son Felipe VI in June 2014.