Courtiers of the emeritus

The declassification of documents regarding the 23-F coup attempt served as an excuse for PP leaders to rush to demand the return of the former king to Spain. "It would be a collective failure as a country if Juan Carlos I were to end his days in exile," said the Prime Minister, Marga Prohens, shortly after Feijóo made the same statement. The revealed secrets of the coup have yielded little more than a few minor details and have confirmed what we already knew. The PP's attempt to exploit the head of state's correct actions—his duty—45 years ago to glorify him is a demagogic attempt to ignore why he chose to go to Abu Dhabi. Voluntarily. He didn't do it solely to save the Crown or his son's reign, but for the security of living in a country where he wouldn't have to pay a single euro in taxes.

Juan Carlos I doesn't need conservative courtiers to reclaim his legacy, nor do he need them to roll out the red carpet for his return. He is free to return the money whenever he sees fit. Nothing prevents him from doing so. Except that, if he resides in Spain for more than 183 days a year, he will be obligated to report to the Tax Office and declare his assets both within and outside the country.

The emeritus king escaped conviction thanks to a combination of the statute of limitations on the substantial commissions and various shady dealings, and his inviolability as head of state. Pure privilege. He paid the Tax Office more than four million euros to regularize a fraud of more than eight million. All this after a tax investigation confirmed that he had 100 million euros hidden in Switzerland.

This head of state, whose conduct should be exemplary, spent years lining his pockets while wielding his power as King of Spain. She left, and the only attempt to restore the damage and shame has been to publish a pathetic memoir, as if she were a starlette or just another heartthrob. His "I'm sorry, I made a mistake; it won't happen again" pronouncements, which he made while on his honeymoon hunting elephants with his lover in Africa—instead of meeting at the Zarzuela Palace—haven't carried over to his lamentable performance as a king who acts as a commission agent. He regrets nothing, he confirmed to a French journalist to whom he opened the doors of his Abu Dhabi home to promote his book, titled Reconciliation

Let him return, if he so desires, and let him return all the money he took in the name of the citizens he was supposed to serve. The PP can continue praising him while he's alive. And they'll mourn him when he's dead.