After the men's individual competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics concluded, Fernández returned to Madrid where he confirmed to Spanish media that he would not be competing at the 2018 World Championships in Milan. He cited his satisfaction with winning the bronze medal in PyeongChang to finish his season as the reason for the decision. Fernández also stated his intention to leave Canada, where he had trained since 2011, and return to Madrid to promote figure skating in Spain. Although he did not rule out future competitions entirely, he confirmed that he would not participate in another World Championships or Olympics.