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The announcement that Spain's king emeritus Juan Carlos I intends to go into exile because of the scandal caused by his alleged links with corrupt business affairs has provoked an immediate response among Catalan politicians who interpret his decision as an attempt to escape from the Spanish authorities.

Jordi Sànchez of the JxCat party called for the Spanish justice system to withdraw Juan Carlos I's passport. Sànchez recalls that he was imprisoned by judge Carmen Lamela "for calling a demonstration" and "I'm still there due to a risk of flight" after voluntarily presenting himself at the court to testify. "Where is the justice in Spain?" he asks.

Another of the Catalan political prisoners, ERC president Oriol Junqueras sarcastically declares that "the law is the same for everyone": "that's why the king allows his corrupt father to leave and gives no explanations, the [Spanish] government looks the other way and the judges of the Supreme Court don't care, because the emeritus is not a pro-independence activist." "The same unreformable and corrupt Spain as always," he concludes.

The president of the ERC group in the Catalan Parliament, Sergi Sabrià, affirms that "thieves must be arrested, tried and imprisoned". “This journey away to holidays with the cash he stole from us, with the red carpet laid out for him by his little boy, who is trying to save his own arse, and while the "most progressive Prime Minister in history" applauds,” retorts Sabrià.

The head of the ERC party in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, dedicated a couple of sarcastic tweets to the king emeritus's decision. 

"I was going to tell a joke about Juan Carlos I's corruption but it escapes me", he wrote, before a second tweet comparing international headlines on the matter. All of them say "Juan Carlos flees Spain", except for that of Spain itself, where the media say "Juan Carlos leaves Spain".  

JxCat spokesperson in the Spanish Congress, Laura Borràs, asked whether the "emeritus king" will become the "fugitive king".

From the CUP party, the MP Vidal Aragonès jokes that he "wouldn't wish a monarchy on anyone!" before making another comparison: "Franco's heir and the head of state's father goes on holiday" but leaves "his Regime the same as it was when they built it". By contrast, "we'll leave their State and their Regime constructing the Catalan Republic."

Also from the CUP, Albert Botran warns that "they are trying to isolate the problem", but the "Spanish monarchy makes corruption its raison d'être".

"They are trying to isolate the problem: they knew nothing about the Urdangarin affair and now Felipe knows nothing about Juan Carlos. Too many coincidences that show up that the Spanish Bourbon monarchy makes corruption its raison d'être. Let them fall and open the way for independence and the Catalan Republic!" says Botran,