MADRID: Calls for Spain’s former King Juan Carlos to return from exile have resurfaced after declassified files confirmed his role in stopping a 1981 coup and defending the country’s fledging democracy.

Juan Carlos, who abdicated in favour of his son Felipe IV in 2014, left Spain in 2020 to live in the United Arab Emirates after a financial scandal tarnished his reputation.

Previously secret documents on the Feb 23, 1981, attempted coup, released on Wednesday, reaffirmed his role in stopping the putsch, an act that had long bolstered his popularity.

The coup came six years after the death of General Francisco Franco and was orchestrated by military officers nostalgic for his decades-long dictatorship.

The newly declassified files include intelligence reports and transcripts of telephone conversations.

Together, they show how Juan Carlos who had been Franco’s designated successor worked to persuade coup plotters to stand down, dissipating lingering questions about his role.

Following their release, the leader of the main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP), Alberto Nunez Feijoo, called for Juan Carlos, 88, to return to Spain.

Someone who helped sustain Spain’s democracy should spend the final stage of his life “with dignity and in his country”, Feijoo argued.

Questions over finances

Spain’s leftist government said the decision to return was his alone.

Juan Carlos already visits periodically for sailing events and medical checkups, Justice Minister Felix Bolaos said. The government “has never prevented or denied him entry”, he added.

The royal household said Juan Carlos was free to return, but stressed he had to have his tax domicile in Spain if he returned, to protect both his image and that of the monarchy.

Re-establishing fiscal residency could raise renewed questions about the former king’s sources of income, said Lucia Yeste, a journalist who covers the royals for Spain’s public radio.

“He said in an interview that he’s the only Spaniard without a pension. So how does he get by? What resources does he have? And that’s something he doesn’t want to talk about,” she told Spanish public television.

When he left Spain in 2020, Spanish and Swiss prosecutors were investigating his involvement in alleged financial wrongdoings involving millions of euros in undeclared accounts, The cases were eventually dropped because the alleged offences happened when Juan Carlos had legal immunity as king - or were time barred.

Juan Carlos paid five million euros ($5.9 million) to the Spanish tax authority to clear arrears as part of efforts to regularise his tax situation and address public pressure.

Since succeeding his father, King Felipe has sought to cut a contrastingly austere figure in a country where the monarchy does not enjoy high levels of support.

He has reduced the size of the official royal family, opened royal accounts to external auditing and imposed a code of conduct on royal staff.

The return of Juan Carlos would be a “blow” to Felipe’s efforts to restore the monarchy’s image, as the former king “does not have a clean record”, said Paloma Roman, a politics specialist at Madrid’s Complutense University.

The PP’s call for him to come back is an attempt to embarrass the ruling Socialist government since many on the right claim it was Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez who sent Juan Carlos into exile, she added.

In his memoirs published last year, Juan Carlos spoke of “government pressure” on the royal household and attempts to “discredit” him.

“I would like to find my place in Spain again,” the former king added, saying he hopes “to be buried there with honours”.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2026