Former Spanish King Juan Carlos I to retire from public life

 

The former king of Spain, Juan Carlos I, announced he is to withdraw from official events and retire from public life from June 2, which will be the five-year anniversary of his abdication of the throne.

Ever since his abdication, Juan Carlos has kept a low profile but was required to attend special cultural events and award ceremonies.

In an official letter to his son, King Felipe VI, Juan Carlos wrote that five years after his abdication, he believes the moment has arrived to retire from public life and withdraw from the institutional activities he has been a part of.

Since he abdicated the throne, Juan Carlos has attended 120 activity, given 30 speeches and gone on nine official trips

Juan Carlos was forced to abdicate on June 2, 2014 at the lowest point of his career, plagued by poor health and also facing a public backlash over a controversial hunting expedition in Botswana and an embezzlement scandal known as the Nóos case, which involved his daughter, the Infanta Cristina de Borbón y Grecia and her husband Iñaki Urdangarin.

But Juan Carlos played a decisive role in the transition to democracy in Spain and his time as king coincides with a period when the country  enjoyed its greatest democratic and economic prosperity.

Juan Carlos’s decision does not affect his wife, Queen Sofía, who will continue to appear at activities organized by the royal household.

 

Via El Pais