Statue mocking Spain's ex-king Juan Carlos appears in Madrid

A sculpture mocking Spain's erstwhile King Juan Carlos has appeared successful Madrid's Puerta del Sol square.

He is shown aiming a firearm astatine a larger statue of a bear, an emblem of Madrid.

Juan Carlos, who abdicated successful favour of his lad Felipe successful 2014 aft 39 years connected the throne, has been heavy criticised for his emotion of hunting.

The sculpture of the ex-king appeared wrong hours of him leaving Spain aft a little sojourn from self-imposed exile successful the United Arab Emirates.

Chilean creator Nicolás Miranda placed the tiny statue, made from polyurethane, successful the cardinal quadrate truthful that the erstwhile king appeared to instrumentality purpose astatine Madrid's fashionable bronze of a carnivore eating from a strawberry tree.

The carnivore sculpture mirrors Madrid's overgarment of arms and is beloved by tourists and locals alike.

While the likeness of the erstwhile king stayed lone for 10 minutes astatine the Puerta del Sol, photos of it person been wide shared connected societal media and successful Spanish media.

Miranda said helium had studied CCTV footage of the quadrate and chose his infinitesimal erstwhile constabulary were successful the process of changing defender successful the square.

His creation installation brought backmost memories of respective controversies involving Juan Carlos's reign.

The palace ever denied the then-king had changeable dormant a tame carnivore made drunk connected vodka during Juan Carlos's travel to bluish Russia successful 2006.

But photos of him posing successful beforehand of a dormant elephant during a 2012 hunting travel to Botswana were harder for the palace to brushwood disconnected and caused his support standing to plummet.

The creation stunt successful the centre of Madrid comes arsenic the erstwhile monarch faces further nationalist criticism.

Juan Carlos near Spain connected Tuesday aft what was lone his 2nd sojourn to his location state since helium moved to Abu Dhabi successful 2020 amid respective corruption inquiries.

During his stay, which lasted little than a week, the erstwhile king, who loves sailing arsenic good arsenic hunting, spent clip successful Sanxenxo connected the north-west coast, wherever his yacht competed successful a regatta.

Inquiries into his finances were shelved past twelvemonth owed to insufficient evidence, but prosecutors said that they had recovered respective irregularities.