Marivent Palace, the usual backdrop for the royal family’s summer holidays for decades, has just witnessed an unprecedented scene in a long time. This was the place chosen by King Juan Carlos to star in an express reunion with a large part of his relatives, after a long eight-year absence without setting foot on the island of Mallorca.
The private trip of the emeritus king was to celebrate the 80th birthday of one of his close friends, the businessman Miguel Arias. A circumstance that he took the opportunity to reunite in Marivent with his wife, Queen Sofía, and his two daughters, the Infantas Cristina and Elena. Also attending this family gathering were his grandchildren, Froilán and Victoria Federica, and the siblings Juan, Pablo, Miguel and Irene Urdangarin.
This was confirmed by journalist Julián Aguirre on the program Y ahora Sonsoles, citing sources from the Royal Household. According to him, after enjoying a lunch in which Rafael Nadal and Kyril of Bulgaria were also present, King Juan Carlos moved to the royal family’s residence in Mallorca to stay there for a few hours. The visit did not extend, and the monarch is said to have already left the island on a private plane.
Notable, the emeritus did not coincide with his son Felipe, who together with Queen Letizia was visiting the areas most affected by fires in Spain. Subsequently, the monarch traveled to Peru to attend the investiture ceremony of the country’s new president, Keiko Fujimori.
Juan Carlos I did not sleep at Marivent
The emeritus king has this time broken with his tradition of visiting our country to attend almost exclusively the Sanxenxo regattas. He did so also with the European Championship title in the 6-metre category under his belt. At 88 years old and at the helm of Bribón, he has just been proclaimed the winner of the tournament held on the waters of Lake Geneva, in Geneva.
In this lightning trip to Mallorca, he did not stay at Marivent Palace, as had been his custom for more than forty years. According to Informalia, the emeritus spent the night at a good friend’s home, Manuel Piñera Gil-Delgado. The chosen place to spend the night on the island was his residence in Cala d’Or.
The Royal Family, during a visit to Palma.
This 24-hour visit has meant the reunion of the former head of state with a land where he spent his happiest summers. Until now, the Easter Mass of 2018 at Palma Cathedral had been the last time he had set foot in Mallorca alongside the Royal Family. During the four years prior, since his abdication in 2014, he had not been seen there either.
The emeriti’s brief meetings
This Mallorcan gathering between King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía occurs ten months after the Royal Family was exceptionally summoned in full at El Pardo. On that occasion, the purpose was to celebrate the monarchy’s 50th anniversary with a private lunch. The emeritus king, with his recently published memoirs, traveled specifically for the event and stayed for almost four hours in the capital before returning to Abu Dhabi.
The emeritus kings, Sofía and Juan Carlos.
Previously, they had been seen together at celebrations such as the wedding of José Luis Martínez-Almeida and Teresa Urquijo on April 6, 2024. In that same year they also attended the mass in honor of Fernando Gómez-Acebo. The lunch in Madrid for Infanta Elena’s 60th birthday or the wedding of the Jordanian princes in Amman have been other occasions of the few gatherings in recent years.
