Spanish King Juan Carlos goes on an elephant hunting trip

While Spain is suffering a second recession, its King spent some days in Botswana on an elephant hunting trip. The monarch has been slammed by the media after the £27,000 cost of the trip was revealed.

The Spanish Monarchy is not going through its best moments. A few months ago, Juan Carlo’s son-in-law was involved in a corruption case, last week his grandson was injured when he shot himself during a target practice session, and now the monarch has to face the Spaniards’ anger after his hunting trip.

The royal holiday would have probably remained secret if Juan Carlos hadn’t fractured his hip and had to be flown back to Madrid. Although most of the Spanish media has always treated the royal family in an excellent way, after the incident several newspapers have published photos of the king posing in front of a dead elephant from a previous hunting trip.

Some of the most important Spanish publications, like “El Mundo”, have shared their thoughts and criticised the royal trip:

“It was an irresponsible trip, taken at the worst possible moment. The image of a monarch hunting elephants in Africa at a time when the economic crisis in our country creates so many problems for the Spanish people is a very poor example.”

While one out of four Spaniards are jobless and 50% of youngsters can’t seem to find a job anywhere in the country, the monarch spent around £27,000 on the holiday.

The price was estimated by taking a look at the safari website where the photos of the hunting trip had been posted. The company, called Rann Safaris, offers trips that cost over £5,500 a week. Including an elephant hunt in the package costs an additional £8,000. Elephants can be killed with licences bought at auctions organised by the Botswana Government.

It’s not the first time that King Juan Carlos has been involved in a hunting scandal. Back in 2009, a rumour spread across Spanish media alleging that the monarch had shot a bear that had been made drunk using vodka during a previous hunting trip.

What do you think of the Spanish royal trip? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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