King Juan Carlos I was the first Spanish king (along with his wife Quern Sofia) that crossed the Atlantic. His very first trip once becoming king of Spain in the 1970's was make a tour of Latin America (exclusively in the former Spanish Empire) and the very first place where the plane landed was Santo Domingo. According to him, it was fitting for the first place in the Americas that he stepped was in Santo Domingo, given that it was the door to Spain in the New World.
The bridge at Santo Domingo Este, near where the highway takes a turn inland and inessence passes under the bridge, is named after him.
He and his wife has visited the DR on multiple ocassions since then, as official trips and as personal leasure trips. His wife, Queen Sofia, even said once that they like a lot the DR, which explains the constant trips the couple made to the country (they are kind of the European version of the Clinton's, lol.)
He has been present at the inauguration of every Dominican President since his first trip to America in the 1970's.
Because of their constant trips to the DR, the current King Felipe VI of Spain, his son, always visits the DR when he travels anywhere in the Americas, whether an official trip or simply stopping by.
With such a support of the DR, why not? He should be given Dominican citizenship in the same way Gilberto Santa Rosa got it a fewyears ago, through a presidential decree. No need to apply or anything as normal people do.
Its widely known that many people in this forum are neither of Dominican or Spanish extraction, and are in a way ignorant of even recent historical realities of the DR, even after some have lived in the DR for many years. Reality is that the relationship between the DR and Spain has been extremely good, in part, due to King Juan Carlos I himself.