Michael Douglas, 80 years old, retires from acting after a holiday with his daughter on Menorca

HOLLYWOOD legend Michael Douglas announced his retirement at 80 years old as he battles a throat cancer.

The Wall Street star revealed recently at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic that he has deliberately avoided work since 2022 – and has now fled the sweltering heat of his beloved Mallorca for the cooler climes of the Basque Country.

Douglas, the face of luxury tourism in Mallorca for the past 40 years, has rented an exclusive Neguri mansion near Getxo. The temperatures there are a cool 20C, compared to the scorching heat of Mallorca.

Douglas said at a conference of the event that he had stopped working since 2022. 

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“I was working hard for almost 60-years, and I didn’t want to die on the set.” “I have no real intention of going back.”

Douglas made the announcement after a recent father and daughter holiday on Menorca, where he attended the spectacular Sant Joan Festival with Carys. 

“My daughter Carys, and I had an amazing time at the spectacular Sant Joan Festival in Menorca aka the Running of the Horses! It happens every year. I’m blown away! He posted on Instagram.

Later he said: “Last night in Menorca!” The Sant Joan horse show was a wonderful experience. Olé!”

READ MORE Michael Douglas, 79, says he will spend half his time in Mallorca after becoming ‘semi-retired’

The Oscar winner’s connection to Spain runs deep, having first arrived in the Balearic island of Deià in the 1980s before purchasing the stunning S’Estaca estate in Valldemossa, cementing his aristocratic links to Mallorca. 

Douglas’ face has appeared in island promotional ads for nearly 50 years.

The unprecedented heatwave this summer has forced Hollywood royalty to move north. Douglas is now singing praises for his new temporary residence. 

During a recent visit to San Sebastián, he gushed: “I’m here in the north of Spain, in the Basque region, in the beautiful city of San Sebastián. How many cities in the world have a central beach?

Catherine Zeta Jones has joined the Real Sociedad de Golf de Neguri, a prestigious golf club in Neguri. She will play at La Galea. 

Douglas claims that the Chicago actor is also filming in Northern Spain.

READ MORE Michael Douglas enjoys a traditional festival in Mallorca and the local cuisine ahead of his 80th Birthday

His health struggles have clearly influenced the actor’s choice to step out of the spotlight. 

Douglas, who was diagnosed with throat cancer, explained that “Stage 4 is not a vacation, but you don’t have many options, do you? 

“I was lucky that I went along with the programme involving radiation and chemotherapy. It would have meant that I would not have been able to speak and would have had part of my face removed, which would have limited me as an actor.”

While Douglas maintains he’s not officially retired – ‘if something special came up, I’d go back’ – he admits he has ‘one little independent movie’ he’s ‘trying to get a good script out of.’ 

However, he’s content for now to step back, joking that ‘in the spirit of maintaining a good marriage,’ he’s ‘happy to play the wife’ to Catherine Zeta-Jones.

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