Juan Carlos economic trouble 'hurts me'

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MADRID, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- King Juan Carlos of Spain told a television interviewer he is in good shape at age 75 but the country's economic difficulties in 2012 "hurts."

"It hurts me a lot," he told Spanish national television station, saying the lack of jobs "leads millions of families to be unable to live with dignity and forces young people to leave Spain to look for work," the BBC reported Saturday.

While the king and his son-in-law were embroiled in scandals in the past year, Carlos said he wanted to be remembered "as the king who has united Spaniards, that with him democracy and the monarchy have been recovered."

The king, who has reigned for 37 years, apologized last year after he was criticized for going on an elephant-hunting expedition in Botswana at the height of Spain's economic problems. His son-in-law, the Duke of Palma was accused of misusing funds for a charity he runs.

The king said he is fit and ready to continue leading the country, euronews reported.

"I am in good shape. I have the energy to move forward and to meet the challenges, to achieve greater consensus among Spanish people."