01/12/2025
Ahead of the release of his memoir, "Reconciliación", in Spain on December 3, the 87-year-old former Spanish monarch, King Juan Carlos, released a promotional video addressing the youth and asked Spaniards to support the reign of his only son, King Felipe VI.
The publication coincides with the 50th anniversary of King Juan Carlos's accession to the Spanish throne and the transition of Spain to democracy from dictatorship.
In the book, the King emeritus reflects on his role in Spain's transition to democracy, his strained family relationships, and the "mistake" he did during his reign. The 500-page biography is co-written with French author, Laurence Debray.
Here's the English description (from Amazon) of the most anticipated book of the year:
The first-person memoirs of His Majesty King Juan Carlos.
“My father (Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona) always advised me not to write my memoirs. Kings do not confess. Especially not in public. Their secrets remain buried in the shadows of palaces. Why do I disobey him now? Why have I changed my mind? Because I feel my story is being stolen from me.”
This work, written in the first person and whose publication is itself a historic event, seeks to set the record straight. If His Majesty has chosen to tell his story after nearly forty years of reign, it is because the move to Abu Dhabi (UAE) part of the published opinion, and—why not—his own mistakes have cast a shadow over his legacy and his fundamental contributions to the success of Spanish democracy.
Reconciliación (Reconciliation) recounts in detail the private side of a public life. These memoirs are rich in anecdotes and do not shy away from the most significant episodes of recent Spanish history, nor from the joys and hardships of his personal and intimate life.
It is a journey that begins in a country torn by civil war, with a young Juan Carlos bound to a destiny not of his choosing, who—step by step, dodging countless plots and earning the trust of many—ultimately becomes the central figure in Spain’s transformation into the modern and prosperous state it is today.
Written with an open heart and without concessions, the book moves between the two exiles that mark the beginning and end of his life—his forced exile in Estoril and his voluntary one in Abu Dhabi—and features many of the most prominent figures in contemporary history.
The monarch, in the twilight of his life and far from his family, prepares to make his final confession. “I have no right to cry,” he says. But he does have the right to seek the longed-for reconciliation with the country he so deeply loves and misses.
