King Juan Carlos returns to Mallorca (and Marivent) after seven years to celebrate an anniversary

PalmaJuan Carlos I has returned to Mallorca and the Marivent Palace seven years later. The emeritus king took advantage of a lightning visit to the island to enter on Sunday the residence that concentrated the family, political and social life of the Spanish monarchy for decades. Before that, he celebrated the 80th birthday of its owner, Miguel Arias, at the Flanigan restaurant, an old friend from the times when the establishment was known as 'the King's restaurant', as reported by La Vanguardia.The monarch had arrived on Sunday morning in Mallorca on a private plane from Geneva. The trip coincided with the departure of Felipe VI, who had left the island to visit, together with Queen Letizia, the neighbors displaced by the fires and housed in a sports center in Villamanta, Madrid. That same evening, the monarch traveled to Lima to attend the inauguration of the new president of Peru, Keiko Fujimori.

There was, therefore, no reunion between father and son. When Juan Carlos I entered Marivent, shortly after 8:00 p.m., Felipe VI had already left. At the residence remained Queen Sofia, the infantas Elena and Cristina, some of the grandchildren and other relatives. Also present were Queen Anne Marie of Greece, Sofia's sister, and Princess Alexia. The emeritus was at Marivent until shortly before midnight. He then traveled to Cala d'Or, about 60 kilometers from Palma, to spend the night at the home of his friend Manuel Piñera. On Monday morning, he left Mallorca on a private plane bound for Sardinia.

The visit was thus reduced to a few hours, far from the long summers when Mallorca became the political, social, and family center of the monarchy. A lunch in Portals, a few hours in Marivent, a night in Cala d'Or, and a new private plane first thing in the morning.

The emeritus's last official visit to Mallorca was during the controversial Easter Sunday Mass of 2018, when Queens Sofia and Letizia had a public disagreement over photos with the infantas Leonor and Sofia. He had not set foot on the island since his abdication, when the Royal Household imposed a sanitary cordon to safeguard the image of his son as the new king after the scandals of Botswana, Corinna, and his assets. Privately, Juan Carlos I attended the 2019 wedding of tennis player Rafa Nadal, which took place at a fortress in Pollença, in the north of Mallorca.

A friend from before he was king

The reason for the trip was Miguel Arias's 80th birthday, which on Sunday brought together his family and friends at the Flanigan restaurant in Puerto Portals. The relationship between Arias and Juan Carlos I dates back to the 1950s, long before Mallorca became the setting for the Crown's summers. The then prince used to go skiing in Navacerrada and stayed at the inn run by Miguel's parents. Pepe Arias, the restaurateur's brother, was one of his ski instructors. Miguel Arias was one of the pioneers of this sport in Navacerrada and studied hospitality in the same graduating class as Juan Mari Arzak. Later, he would manage Baqueira Beret, the resort traditionally frequented by the royal family, and act as a consultant to Klaus Graf to define the model that Puerto Portals should follow. Arias had contributed to the relaunch of snow tourism in the Lleida Pyrenees and transferred to Mallorca a formula based on the combination of sport, leisure, and services.

His relationship with Juan Carlos I predated the photographs, dinners, and bows that would surround the monarch during the Mallorcan summers. When Arias was asked about his relationship with the king, he would reply: "The King has no friends. His position does not allow it”.

History, however, shows a decades-long relationship. Arias was not one of those who sought a handshake with the Head of State to hang the photograph afterwards, but rather someone who was already part of his life before Marivent became the royal family's summer residence.

“The King’s restaurant”

Miguel Arias was one of the first entrepreneurs to invest in Puerto Portals. He opened Flanigan there, a restaurant without great gastronomic sophistication that would eventually become one of the main social showcases of the 80s and 90s. At the height of the port's boom, visiting Mallorca meant seeing the Cathedral, climbing to Bellver Castle, and dining at Flanigan.

The menu reflected the owner's austere character: potato omelette, homemade croquettes, squid, garlic prawns, Padrón peppers, tomato bread, gazpacho, macaroni, or hamburgers. There were no sauces that could mask the product. “If it’s good, perfect. If not, there are no excuses,” Arias maintained.

The terrace was the hub of the restaurant's life. During the years of the pelotazo, its round tables became the most coveted by the beautiful people. The waiting list was endless, and the powerful were reluctant to leave the establishment or wait for their turn. Some even offered to pay the bill of diners who had already reached dessert if it allowed them to take their table.

Bankers like Mario Conde, Alfredo Sáenz, and José María Amusátegui, businessmen, aristocrats, celebrities, and a whole court of people convinced that it was enough to extend a hand to greet Juan Carlos I or his sons, usually accompanied by yachtsmen, paraded through Flanigan. This is why many began to refer to the establishment as “the King’s restaurant”.

However, there were no photographs of clients hanging on the walls. Arias refused to commercially exploit their presence. “You can’t exploit clients, that’s why I don’t have pictures,” he explained. Nor did he advertise the restaurant. He considered that scarce promotion allowed him to respond to the dissatisfied that no one had asked them to come.

Discretion did not prevent Flanigan from appearing on every paparazzo's agenda. It was one of the main hunting grounds for the gossip press: a place where the royal family, Spain's wealthiest fortunes, and international figures like Claudia Schiffer could coincide. The establishment thus brought together two complementary Mallorcas: that of the powerful who wanted to be seen and that of well-connected Majorcans who considered it ridiculous to queue on August 15th to show off.

For Joan Carles I, Flanigan also had a practical sense. The restaurant was in front of the mooring of the Bribón. When the wind did not allow sailing during the Puerto Portals regattas, the monarch would go in to have a bite. Restaurant, boat, and friendship remained united in the same summer routine.

The end of summers in Marivent

Juan Carlos I had started spending his summers on the island before being proclaimed king. His presence transformed Mallorca into an international showcase for the monarchy and a political capital during the month of August. Presidents, monarchs, and personalities from all over the world passed through Marivent, while photographs of the royal family sailing or participating in regattas definitively associated the figure of Juan Carlos I with the island.

That bond was broken after his abdication, the scandals about his fortune, and his subsequent move to Abu Dhabi. Before traveling to Mallorca this Sunday, the emeritus king had celebrated in Geneva the victory of Bribón in the European Championship of the 6 Metre class. Juan Carlos I has not returned to Abu Dhabi this summer due to high temperatures and has spent a good part of his time in Cascais, where he is staying in the residences of Portuguese friends.