Josep Cusí dies, the close friend of Joan Carles of Bourbon

BarcelonaJosep Cusí, Joan Carles de Borbón's most loyal friend, died this Wednesday at the age of 92 in Barcelona, as reported by La Vanguardia and confirmed by the Efe Agency. Although he was one of the king emeritus's closest friends, they hadn't seen each other for some time because Cusí's delicate health following a stroke he suffered in 2021 did not allow him to travel. With a discreet profile, he was a businessman, shipowner, and participated in the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games as a shooter. He met Joan Carles Borbó in 1972 during a hunt organized by Franco. In fact, Cusí accompanied the dictator for 12 years as a trap shooting instructor: "Every Thursday I went to the El Pardo house for many years and we had lunch in the countryside. I set up a trap shooting machine for him," he recalled in 2011 in an interview with Ràdio 4. Before dying, Franco gave him one of his shotguns.

Cusí did not come from the aristocracy; he defined himself as "the son of a middle-class family," but the fact that he excelled in sports propelled him in his relationships. He started as a swimmer, water polo player, and diver. His abilities in this field led him to embark at just 18 years old with the French explorer Jacques Cousteau on an expedition to the Red Sea to film his first underwater tape. An achievement for which Cusí was awarded the French Legion of Honor medal.

The relationship between the businessman and the former king grew stronger thanks to their shared passion for sailing. Initially, they competed against each other, and shortly after the Munich Olympic Games, they began to do so together on the Scoundrel II, 11 meters long, representing the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona. Cusí did so as owner and the king as skipper. The Barcelona sailor explained that the name of Rascal he put it, although he thought about it a lot: "I always gave names related to their function to all my ships. In the end, I opted to give this name to my racing ships because to compete in them you have to be shrewd, aggressive, and also a bit cunning".

In June 2020, following a report by The Telegraph, the fundamental role that Cusí played in the honeymoon of Felipe and Letizia became known. After getting married, the current king and queen traveled to, among other places, Cambodia, the Fiji Islands, and California, and Cusí paid half the cost of these trips. According to the report, the nuptial tour, which began in May 2004 and lasted until August of that year, had a total cost of 402,000 euros, of which the businessman paid 235,000 euros through his company Navilot.

Medal collector

Married in a third marriage to Inés Muiños, Cusí holds the medal for sporting merit, the medal of the city of Barcelona, the grand cross of Naval Merit, as well as that of the French Legion of Honor. Four years older than King Juan Carlos, he was an electronic engineer from the School of Engineers of Terrassa (Vallès Occidental). At 16 years old, he entered the family business of electronic components and participated in the lighting of various emblematic places in Barcelona, such as the fountains of Montjuïc, as well as the churches of Tibidabo and Santa Maria del Mar.