Emeritus King Juan Carlos I has initiated civil proceedings against former Cantabrian President Miguel Ángel Revilla over alleged defamatory remarks made since May 2022 in various media appearances. The lawsuit is a personal initiative pursued through his private lawyers, without consultation with the Royal Household.
Juan Carlos is demanding €50,000 in compensation—an amount he pledges to donate entirely to Cáritas España. Additionally, he has summoned Revilla to a conciliation hearing at the Santander courts, seeking a public retraction of his statements. The legal action is led by attorney Guadalupe Sánchez, an expert in civil litigation.
While the press release does not specify the media outlets or statements in question, Revilla, a current Cantabrian parliament member, has made frequent appearances on La Sexta and Antena 3’s El Hormiguero, where he has referred to the emeritus king as a “tax stateless person” and claimed that “we Spaniards paid for his lovers.”
The note made public by his lawyer cites “statements made publicly by Don Miguel Ángel Revilla Roiz to various media outlets between 2022 and January 2025 in which he seriously slandered” the emeritus king and referred to him using “insulting, defamatory and contemptuous expressions that violate his fundamental right to honour” established in Article 18.1 of the Spanish Constitution.
