King Juan Carlos I has a cheerful personality, is informal in informal situations, and has a military demeanor. He likes green and sports activities such as swimming, skiing, judo, etc. He is good at rowing and likes watching football and basketball games. Juan Carlos I visited China twice in June 1978 and March 1995.
As a representative of the Spanish royal family, King Carlos pays great attention to his image. Tall and tall, he is considered one of the most elegant heads of state. But in his leisure time, he prefers to wear sportswear. Come summer, King Carlos can often be seen wearing colorful casual outfits enjoying the sun on the beaches of Palma, Spain.
Carlos has a wide range of hobbies. Outside of his busy work, he enjoys hunting and sailing. He also has some lesser-known hobbies, such as collecting. His collection includes models of some of the most famous sailing ships in history and various pens. King Carlos also likes to collect cartoons and jokes about the royal family published in newspapers and keeps them in a special collection. He even called some media outlets to request cartoons about members of the royal family. In addition, King Carlos also likes to play with modern high-tech products such as mobile phones and electronic notepads. He has been a radio amateur since his youth, which is rare among heads of state. In the radio world, people don't know that he is the King, and the radio code he uses is EAOJC. There must be many radio enthusiasts who have communicated with the King through the radio without knowing his true identity.
King Carlos pays great attention to his health. He gets up early every day and does physical exercises accompanied by a professional sports coach. In addition, he also paid attention to the science of diet. Although not as cautious as Queen Sofia, King Carlos also regulates his diet to avoid gaining weight. But he is not a vegetarian, he likes to eat fish steaks, Spanish ham and ribs. The ribs are very good at the Casa Julian restaurant in Madrid, where King Carlos is a regular. Fried eggs are one of Carlos' favorite foods. Once when he was out at sea in Palma, he hosted a banquet for the crew and ate four fried eggs at one time, which surprised everyone. As a gourmet, when the European Summit was held in Spain in 1994, Carlos also specially suggested Spain's unique paella as one of the food for the meeting. King Carlos knows his way around wine and is a connoisseur of all types of wine. There is a special basement in the Zarzuela Palace that contains many internationally renowned brands of wine, most of which were given to King Carlos by heads of state and friends from other countries at Christmas or on his birthday. In this basement, there is also a place dedicated to cigars. Unlike Queen Sofia, who occasionally smokes cigarettes, King Carlos never smokes cigarettes, but he likes to smoke cigars. Cuba's most famous Coiba cigars are his favorite.
King Carlos likes high-powered cars and motorcycles, and often drives himself to experience the feeling of speed. It is said that once, Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip were invited by King Carlos and his wife to go to Mallorca, Spain for vacation. Mr. and Mrs. Carlos and Mr. and Mrs. Elizabeth are cousins ??and have a very good relationship. They were going for a spin on Mallorca. Carlos told Queen Elizabeth that he did not bring a driver because he wanted to drive himself. "We feel more comfortable this way," he said. Queen Elizabeth, who pays great attention to etiquette, was surprised and said: "How can you drive yourself?" Carlos replied: "If I like it, why can't I drive it myself?" Another time, King Carlos was traveling on a motorcycle. Encountering a motorcyclist who broke down due to lack of fuel, the king drove the motorcyclist to buy gasoline for the motorcyclist. When the king took off his helmet to wipe his sweat, people discovered that the enthusiastic person in front of them turned out to be His Majesty the King.
As the commander-in-chief of the three armed forces, in daily life, Carlos has specialized military assistants, three generals from the army, navy and air force. They take turns to work and serve the king 24 hours a day. , and made suggestions for him to participate in some official activities. These assistants are the people who have the most contact with Carlos. They think King Carlos has a very strong personality, even a little unusual, but he has a heart of gold. He was very strict in handling royal affairs, and if members of the royal family behaved inappropriately, they would be severely criticized by King Carlos. But he cared deeply for his men. Spanish General José Antonio was Carlos's military aide and later became Prince Felipe's teacher. He said: "The king is very concerned about the people around him, and even cares about the trivial matters of their lives." Once, Antonio took the prince to Canada to attend a training class. When King Carlos called him he learned that Antonio's wife was not coming with him. A few days later, under the personal arrangement of King Carlos, Antonio's wife came to Canada to visit him, which moved Antonio deeply.
After the death of dictator Franco, Juan Carlos was proclaimed King of Spain. Later, he voluntarily gave up power and realized the transition from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy in Spain. For this, he has received widespread recognition and appreciation around the world.