Spain’s former king Juan Carlos wants to take part in a boating world championship this year. The 85-year-old has now started training for this.
Vigo/Sanxenxo – Spain’s controversial former king Juan Carlos left for a short sailing trip on his home visit. On board his boat “Bribón”, the 85-year-old set sail with companions from the small north-western Spanish port of Sanxenxo on the Atlantic.
State TV broadcaster RTVE showed him being driven to the port in a car and boarding without speaking to onlookers. He had to use a walking stick and be supported by helpers. This confirmed expectations that this second home visit would be much more discreet than the one in May of last year.
According to media reports, the former king, who has been living in exile in Abu Dhabi since the summer of 2020, wants to train off the Isle of Wight in southern England to take part in the world championship in the classic six-meter racing boat class (6mR) at the end of August and beginning of September. He had already won this competition in 2017 and 2019.
The boats are not six meters, but ten to eleven meters long. The six meters in the class name refers to the result of a formula that takes ship’s length and beam, water length, draft, freeboard and sail area and the result is 6. At the weekend, the Copa del Rey regatta will also be held in front of Sanxenxo, in which the old king also wants to take part.
Juan Carlos had arrived the day before from London on board a private jet in the large city of Vigo in Galicia. He then went to the small port town of Sanxenxo, a little further south, where some of his closest friends live. He had already taken part in a regatta there on his first visit home last year. There were initially no official announcements from the royal family or the government. It was also unknown whether Juan Carlos would meet his son, King Felipe VI, or his wife Sofía. dpa