Spain: Exiled monarch was given female hormones to curtail sex drive, claims ex-official

In a sensational revelation, Spain’s ex-police commissioner said that country’s exiled monarch was injected with female hormones to control his sex drive, which is considered a danger to the state. Addressing the Spanish Parliament, Jose Manuel Villarejo said that the disgraced former head of state Juan Carlos was administered libido curtailing drugs. It is imperative to note that the revelations were made during Villarejo's trial for corruption and blackmail earlier this week. Addressing Spanish Parliamentarians, the former law enforcer said that Spain’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI) had to drug the 83-year-old with “female hormones and testosterone inhibitors to scale down his sex drive, Spanish media reported. Meanwhile, a book laying bare Carlos’ sexual history was recently published. Titled ‘Juan Carlos: The King Of 5,000 Lovers’, the book characterised the ex-ruler as a “rampant sex addict.” 

Multiple media reports have stated that Carlos, who reigned Spain for almost four decades, had a sexual relationship with more than 5,000 women. The list encompassed Danish-German philanthropist Corinna Larsen, Spanish singer Sara Montiel, Belgian governess Liliane Sartiau and Italian princess Maria Gabriela de Saboya, besides his wife, Queen Sofia. The controversial book is authored by military historian Amadeo Martinez Ingles. 

Spain to abolish prostitution 

This comes days after incumbent Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pledged to outlaw prostitution- an act that one in every three Spanish men admitted to paying for. Addressing his supporters at the end of his Socialist Party’s Congress, Sanchez vowed to “abolish” prostitution reckoning that the practice “enslaves women”. Notably, a ban on the sex trade was a promise that Sanchez’s Socialist Party had added to his election manifesto back in 2019. But, no concrete legislation has been passed as of now. 

Speaking in the coastal city of Valencia, Sanchez highlighted policies and measures taken under his administration that have helped Spain “advance” including those regarding domestic violence and minimum wages. On Sunday, he vowed to take it a step ahead and “abolish” the sex trade.

Like many other European countries, prostitution is decriminalized in Spain. However, pimping or mediation between the client and the sex worker is punishable. In 2009, a survey conducted by Spain’s Social Investigations Centre (CIS) revealed that one in every three men in the country had paid for sex at least once. In 2014, the country’s statistics agency even tried to calculate the contribution of prostitution and related acts to the country’s economy.  

Image: AP