Juan Carlos De Borbón
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Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the
Spanish royal family The Spanish royal family constitutes the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon (), also known as the House of Bourbon-Anjou (). The royal family is headed by King Felipe VI and currently consists of the King; Queen Letizia; their children, Leono ...
who reigned as
King of Spain The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...
from 22 November 1975 until his abdication on 19 June 2014. In Spain, since his abdication, Juan Carlos has usually been referred to as the ('king
emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...
') by the press. Juan Carlos is the son of
Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona (Juan Carlos Teresa Silverio Alfonso de Borbón y Battenberg; 20 June 1913 – 1 April 1993), was a claimant to the Spanish throne as Juan III. He was the third son and designated heir of King Alfonso XIII o ...
, and grandson of
Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...
, the last king of Spain before the abolition of the monarchy in 1931 and the subsequent declaration of the
Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...
. Juan Carlos was born in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, Italy, during his family's exile.
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
took over the government of Spain after his victory in the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
in 1939, yet in 1947 Spain's status as a monarchy was affirmed and a law was passed allowing Franco to choose his successor. Juan Carlos's father assumed his claims to the throne after King Alfonso XIII died in February 1941. However, Franco saw Juan Carlos's father to be too liberal and in 1969 declared Juan Carlos his successor as head of state. Juan Carlos spent his early years in Italy and came to Spain in 1947 to continue his studies. After completing his secondary education in 1955, he began his military training and entered the General Military Academy at
Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
. Later, he attended the Naval Military School and the General Academy of the Air, and finished his tertiary education at the University of Madrid. In 1962, Juan Carlos married Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark in Athens. The couple have three children: Elena,
Cristina Cristina is a female given name, and it is also a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Cristina (daughter of Edward the Exile), 11th-century English princess *Cristina (singer), Cristina Monet-Palaci (1956–2020), American ...
, and Felipe. Due to Franco's advanced age and declining health amid his struggle with
Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...
, Juan Carlos first began periodically acting as Spain's head of state in the summer of 1974. In November the following year, Franco died and Juan Carlos became king. Juan Carlos was expected to continue Franco's legacy, but instead introduced reforms to dismantle the Francoist regime and to begin the
Spanish transition to democracy The Spanish transition to democracy, known in Spain as (; ) or (), is a period of History of Spain, modern Spanish history encompassing the regime change that moved from the Francoist dictatorship to the consolidation of a parliamentary system ...
soon after his accession. This led to the approval of the
Spanish Constitution of 1978 The Spanish Constitution () is the supreme law of the Kingdom of Spain. It was enacted after its approval in 1978 in a constitutional referendum; it represents the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy. The current version was a ...
in a referendum which re-established a
constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...
. In 1981, Juan Carlos played a major role in preventing a coup that attempted to revert to Francoist government in the King's name. In 2008, he was considered the most popular leader across all
Ibero-America Ibero-America (, ) or Iberian America is generally considered to be the region in the Americas comprising countries or territories where Spanish or Portuguese are predominant languages (usually former colony, territories of Spain or Portugal). Sp ...
. Hailed for his role in Spain's transition to democracy, the King and the monarchy's reputation began to suffer after controversies surrounding his family arose, exacerbated by the public controversy centering on an elephant-hunting trip he undertook during a time of financial crisis in Spain. In June 2014, Juan Carlos abdicated in favour of his son, who acceded to the throne as Felipe VI. Since August 2020, Juan Carlos has lived in self-imposed exile from Spain over allegedly improper ties to business deals in Saudi Arabia. The ''New York Times'' estimated in 2014 that Juan Carlos's fortune was around €1.8 billion ($2.3 billion).


Early life

Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María was born to
Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona (Juan Carlos Teresa Silverio Alfonso de Borbón y Battenberg; 20 June 1913 – 1 April 1993), was a claimant to the Spanish throne as Juan III. He was the third son and designated heir of King Alfonso XIII o ...
, and Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in their family home in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, where his grandfather King
Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...
and other members of the
Spanish royal family The Spanish royal family constitutes the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon (), also known as the House of Bourbon-Anjou (). The royal family is headed by King Felipe VI and currently consists of the King; Queen Letizia; their children, Leono ...
lived in exile following the proclamation of the
Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...
in 1931. He was baptized as Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope
Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...
. Juan Carlos's early life was dictated largely by the political concerns of his father and General
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
. He moved to Spain in 1948 to be educated there after his father persuaded Franco to allow it. He began his studies in
San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...
and finished them in 1954 at the Instituto San Isidro in Madrid. He then joined the army, doing his officer training from 1955 to 1957 at the Military Academy of Zaragoza. According to his sister Pilar, he had difficulty in his studies because of
dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...
. Juan Carlos has two sisters:
Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz Infanta Pilar of Spain, Duchess of Badajoz and Viscountess of La Torre (Spanish language, Spanish: ''María del Pilar Alfonsa Juana Victoria Luisa Ignacia y Todos los Santos de Borbón y Borbón''; 30 July 1936 – 8 January 2020), sometimes kn ...
(1936–2020); and Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria (born 1939). He also had a younger brother,
Alfonso Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. I ...
(1941–1956). The rendering of his name as "Juan Carlos" (the first and second particles of his baptismal name) was a modification by choice of Franco. He was always known in his familiar circle simply as "Juan" or "Juanito". Together with his parents and his sister Pilar, he took part in the ship tour organized by Queen Frederica and her husband King
Paul of Greece Paul (; 14 December 1901 – 6 March 1964) was King of Greece from 1 April 1947 until his death on 6 March 1964. Paul was born in Athens as the third son of Constantine I of Greece, Crown Prince Constantine and Sophia of Prussia, Crown Princess ...
in 1954, which became known as the “ Cruise of the Kings” and was attended by over 100 royals from all over Europe. On this trip, Juan Carlos met the hosts' 15-year-old daughter,
Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
, his future wife, for the first time.


Brother's death

On the evening of
Holy Thursday Maundy Thursday, also referred to as Holy Thursday, or Thursday of the Lord's Supper, among other names,The day is also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries. is ...
, 29 March 1956,
Infante Infante (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as "infant" or translated as "prince", is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to the ...
Alfonso died in a gun accident at the family's home Villa Giralda in
Estoril Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...
, on the
Portuguese Riviera The Portuguese Riviera (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Riviera Portuguesa'') is a term used for the affluent coastal region to the west of Lisbon, Portugal, centered on the coastal municipalities of Cascais (including Estoril), Oeiras, Portug ...
. The Spanish Embassy in Portugal then issued the following official communiqué: Alfonso had won a local junior golf tournament earlier in the day, then went to evening Mass and rushed up to the room to see Juan Carlos who had come home for the Easter holidays from military school. Both Juan Carlos, age 18, and Alfonso, age 14, had been apparently playing with a .22LR Star Bonifacio Echeverria Automatic pistol owned by Alfonso. As they were alone in the room, it is unclear how Alfonso was shot, but according to Josefina Carolo, dressmaker to Juan Carlos's mother, Juan Carlos pointed the pistol at Alfonso and pulled the trigger, unaware that it was loaded. Bernardo Arnoso, a Portuguese friend of Juan Carlos, also said that Juan Carlos had told him he had fired the pistol not knowing that it was loaded, and adding that the bullet ricocheted off a wall, hitting Alfonso in the face. Helena Matheopoulos, a Greek author who spoke with the infantes' sister Pilar, said that Alfonso had been out of the room and when he returned and pushed the door open, the door knocked Juan Carlos in the arm, causing him to fire the pistol. After learning this news, the Count of Barcelona reportedly grabbed Juan Carlos by the neck and shouted at him angrily, "Swear to me that you didn't do it on purpose!" Two days later, the Count sent his son back to the military academy. Following a later declaration of Juan Carlos's mother,
Paul Preston Sir Paul Preston CBE (born 21 July 1946) is an English historian and Hispanist, biographer of Francisco Franco, and specialist in Spanish history, in particular the Spanish Civil War, which he has studied for more than 50 years. He is the winn ...
argues that the content of the former testimony implies that Juan Carlos had pointed the gun at Alfonso, apparently not knowing that the gun was loaded, and pulled the trigger.


Education

In 1957, Juan Carlos spent a year in the
naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...
school at
Marín, Pontevedra Marín is a town and municipality in Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain in the province of Pontevedra (province), Pontevedra. It is located on the southern shore of the ria of Pontevedra, in the Comarcas of Galicia, comarca of O Morrazo. This town i ...
, and another in the
Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...
school in San Javier in
Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...
. In 1960–61, he studied law,
international political economy International political economy (IPE) is the study of how politics shapes the global economy and how the global economy shapes politics. A key focus in IPE is on the power of different actors such as nation states, international organizations and ...
and
public finance Public finance refers to the monetary resources available to governments and also to the study of finance within government and role of the government in the economy. Within academic settings, public finance is a widely studied subject in man ...
at the
Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...
. He then went to live in the Palace of Zarzuela and began carrying out official engagements.


Prince of Spain

The dictatorial regime of Francisco Franco came to power during the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
, which pitted a government of democrats, anarchists, socialists, and communists, supported by the Soviet Union and international volunteers, against a rebellion of conservatives, monarchists, nationalists, and fascists, supported by both Hitler and Mussolini, with the rebels ultimately winning. Franco's authoritarian government remained dominant in Spain until the 1960s. With Franco's increasing age, left-wing protests increased, while at the same time, the far right factions demanded the return of a hardline absolute monarchy. At the time, the heir to the throne of Spain was Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, the son of King Alfonso XIII. However, Franco viewed him with extreme suspicion, believing him to be a liberal who was opposed to his regime. Juan Carlos's first cousin Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz, was also briefly considered as a candidate. Alfonso was known to be an ardent Francoist and married Franco's granddaughter, Doña María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco, in 1972. Ultimately, Franco decided to skip a generation and name Infante Juan Carlos as his personal successor. Franco hoped the young prince could be groomed to take over the nation while still maintaining the ultraconservative and authoritarian nature of his regime. In 1969, Juan Carlos was officially designated
heir-apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...
and was given the new title of Prince of Spain (not the traditional
Prince of Asturias Prince or Princess of Asturias () is the main substantive title used by the heir apparent, or heir presumptive to the monarchy of Spain, Spanish Crown. According to the Spanish Constitution of 1978: The title originated in 1388, when King J ...
). As a condition of being named heir-apparent, he was required to swear loyalty to Franco's
Movimiento Nacional The Movimiento Nacional () was a governing institution of Spain established by General Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. During Francoist Spain#Francoism, Francoist rule in Spain, it purported to be the only channel of parti ...
, which he did with little outward hesitation. His choice was ratified by the Spanish parliament on 22 July 1969. Juan Carlos met and consulted Franco many times while heir apparent and often took part in official and ceremonial state functions, standing alongside the dictator, much to the anger of hardline republicans and more moderate liberals, who hoped that Franco's death would bring in an era of reform. During 1969–1975, Juan Carlos publicly supported Franco's regime. Although Franco's health worsened during those years, whenever he did appear in public, from state dinners to military parades, it was in Juan Carlos's company. However, as the years progressed, Juan Carlos began meeting secretly with political opposition leaders and exiles, who were fighting to bring liberal reform to the country. He also had secret conversations with his father over the telephone. Franco, for his part, remained largely oblivious to the prince's actions and denied allegations from his ministers and advisors that Juan Carlos was in any way disloyal to his vision of the regime. During periods of Franco's temporary incapacity in 1974 and 1975, Juan Carlos was acting head of state. On 30 October 1975, Franco gave full control to Juan Carlos. According to declassified CIA reports, during this time Juan Carlos secretly acquiesced and arranged with King
Hassan II of Morocco Hassan II (; 9 July 1929 – 23 July 1999) was King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999. A member of the Alawi dynasty, he was the eldest son of King Mohammed V of Morocco, Mohammed V, and his second wife Princess Lalla Abla ...
the terms of the so-called Green March, the partial invasion of the
Spanish Sahara Spanish Sahara (; ), officially the Spanish Possessions in the Sahara from 1884 to 1958, then Province of the Sahara between 1958 and 1976, was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was occupied and ruled by Spain bet ...
by Moroccan civilians, followed by the Madrid Accords handing over the control of the territory to Morocco and
Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...
.


Reign

Franco died on 20 November 1975, and two days later on 22 November the
Cortes Españolas The Cortes Españolas (), known informally as the Cortes franquistas (), was the name of the legislative institution promulgated by the ''Caudillo'' of Spain Francisco Franco which was established on 17 July 1942 (the sixth anniversary of th ...
proclaimed Juan Carlos King of Spain. In his address to the Cortes, Juan Carlos spoke of three factors: historical tradition, national laws, and the will of the people, and in so doing referred to a process dating back to the Civil War of 1936–39. He swore using the following formula: "I swear to God and the Gospels to comply and enforce compliance to the Fundamental Laws of the Realm and to remain loyal to the Principles of the National Movement". On 27 November, a Mass of the Holy Spirit was celebrated in the church of San Jerónimo el Real in Madrid to inaugurate his reign. He opted not to call himself Juan III or Carlos V, but Juan Carlos I. Juan Carlos is reported to have been pressured by
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, ; ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as simply Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Ministry of the Economy ...
to personally tell Chilean dictator
Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...
, who had traveled to Spain for Franco's funeral, not to attend his inauguration. In the end Pinochet did participate of the proclamation at the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid but not in the follow-up
Te Deum The ( or , ; from its incipit, ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to a date before AD 500, but perhaps with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin ...
. In private Pinochet expressed later his disapproval of what he saw as a lack of recognition of Franco by Juan Carlos I in his speech at the Cortes.


Transition

Juan Carlos's accession met with relatively little parliamentary opposition. Some members of the
Movimiento Nacional The Movimiento Nacional () was a governing institution of Spain established by General Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. During Francoist Spain#Francoism, Francoist rule in Spain, it purported to be the only channel of parti ...
voted against recognizing him, and even more voted against the 1976 Law for Political Reform. But a majority of Movimiento members supported both measures. Juan Carlos quickly instituted reforms, to the great displeasure of Falangist and conservative (
monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. C ...
) elements, especially in the military, who had expected him to maintain the authoritarian state. In July 1976, Juan Carlos dismissed
prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Carlos Arias Navarro, who had been attempting to continue Francoist policies in the face of the King's attempts at democratization. He instead appointed
Adolfo Suárez Adolfo Suárez González, 1st Duke of Suárez (; 25 September 1932 – 23 March 2014) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected Prime Minister of Spain, prime minister since the Second Spanish Republi ...
, a former leader of the
Movimiento Nacional The Movimiento Nacional () was a governing institution of Spain established by General Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. During Francoist Spain#Francoism, Francoist rule in Spain, it purported to be the only channel of parti ...
, as prime minister. Further legitimacy was restored to Juan Carlos's position on 14 May 1977, when his father (whom many monarchists had recognized as the legitimate, exiled King of Spain during the Franco era) formally renounced his claim to the throne and recognized his son as the sole head of the Spanish Royal House, transferring to him the historical heritage of the Spanish monarchy, thus making Juan Carlos both '' de facto'' and ''
de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...
'' king in the eyes of the traditional monarchists. On 20 May 1977, the leader of the only recently legalized
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...
(PSOE),
Felipe González Felipe González Márquez (; born 5 March 1942) is a retired Spanish politician who was Prime Minister of Spain from 1982 to 1996 and leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party from 1974 to 1997. He is the longest-serving democratically- ...
, accompanied by
Javier Solana Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga CYC (; born 14 July 1942) is a Spanish physicist and PSOE politician. After serving in the Spanish government as Foreign Affairs Minister under Felipe González (1992–1995) and as the Secretary Gener ...
, visited Juan Carlos in the Zarzuela Palace. The event represented a key endorsement of the monarchy from Spain's
political left Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...
, who had been historically republican. Left-wing support for the monarchy had grown when the
Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain (; PCE) is a communist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is currently part of Sumar. Two of its politicians are Spanish government ministers: Yolanda Díaz (Minister of L ...
was legalized on 9 April 1977, a move Juan Carlos had pressed for, despite enormous right-wing military opposition at that time, during the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
. On 15 June 1977, Spain held its first post-Franco democratic elections. Juan Carlos had played a role as middleman in order to channel $10 million from the Shah of Iran to Adolfo Suárez's election campaign, reportedly asking the Shah for the money to "save Spain from Marxism". Suárez went on to win the election and become the first democratically elected leader of the new regime. In 1978, the government promulgated a new constitution that acknowledged Juan Carlos as rightful heir of the Spanish
dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...
and king; specifically, Title II, Section 57 asserted Juan Carlos's right to the throne of Spain by dynastic succession in the Bourbon tradition, as "the legitimate heir of the historic dynasty" rather than as the designated successor of Franco. The Constitution was passed by the democratically elected
Constituent Cortes The Constituent Cortes () is the description of Spain's parliament, the Cortes, when convened as a constituent assembly. In the 20th century, only one Constituent Cortes was officially opened (Cortes are "opened" in accordance with a mediaeval ...
, ratified by the people in a referendum (6 December) and then signed into law by the King before a solemn meeting of the Cortes.


1981 coup d'état attempt

An attempted military coup, known as 23-F, occurred on 23 February 1981, when the Cortes were seized by members of the Guardia Civil in the parliamentary chamber. During the coup, the King, wearing his uniform as Captain-General of the Armed Forces, gave a public television broadcast calling for unambiguous support for the legitimate democratic government. The broadcast is believed to have been a major factor in foiling the coup. The coup leaders had promised many of their potential supporters that they were acting in the King's name and with his approval, but were unable to demonstrate either, and the broadcast — coming just after midnight on the night of the coup — definitively showed the King's opposition to the coup makers. When Juan Carlos became king,
Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
leader Santiago Carrillo had nicknamed him ''Juan Carlos the Brief'', predicting that the monarchy would soon be swept away with the other remnants of the Franco era. After the collapse of the attempted coup however, in an emotional statement, Carrillo remarked: "Today, we are all monarchists." Public support for the monarchy among democrats and leftists, which had been limited before 1981, increased significantly following the king's handling of the coup. However, this event remains controversial and has led to several alternative theories that cast doubt on the sincerity of the King's defense of democracy. The King had close ties with the leader of the rebellion, who had served him as Secretary General of the Royal Household. Above all, Juan Carlos and the main political parties were aware of a plan to put General Alfonso Armada in charge of the government, particularly in order to crack down on the Basque independence organization
Euskadi ta Askatasuna ETA, an acronym for ("Basque Homeland and Liberty"ETA BASQUE ORGANIZATION
Encyclo ...
(ETA). Although Juan Carlos strongly condemned the coup attempt — more than six hours after the armed guards invaded Congress — it is still difficult to establish whether he acted out of democratic conviction or because the operation was not going as well as expected, with little support. The reasons for the trial of the coup plotters are still classified.


Later role in Spanish politics

The victory of the PSOE in 1982 under González marked the effective end of the King's active involvement in Spanish politics. González governed for 14 years, longer than any other democratically elected Prime Minister. His administration helped consolidate Spanish democracy and thus maintained the stability of the nation. On paper, Juan Carlos retained fairly extensive
reserve power In a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government, a reserve power, also known as discretionary power, is a power that may be exercised by the head of state (or their representative) without the approval of another branch or part of th ...
s. He was the guardian of the Constitution and was responsible for ensuring that it was obeyed. In practice, since the passage of the Constitution (and especially since 1982), he took a mostly non-partisan and representative role, acting almost entirely on the advice of the government. However, he commanded great
moral authority Moral authority is authority premised on principles, or fundamental truths, which are independent of written, or positive laws. As such, moral authority necessitates the existence of and adherence to truth. Because truth does not change the princip ...
as an essential symbol of the country's unity. Under the Constitution, the King has immunity from prosecution in matters relating to his official duties. Consequently, he exercised most of his powers through the ministers; his acts as King (and not as a citizen) were not valid unless countersigned by a minister, who became politically responsible for the act in question. As head of the Spanish state, Juan Carlos "held political power, gave his opinion and exerted his influence in the economic sphere, for example, in the area of company mergers or public policy during the transition period," analyses journalist Ana Pardo. The honour of the royal family is specifically protected from insult by the Spanish Penal Code. Under this protection, Basque independentist
Arnaldo Otegi Arnaldo Otegi Mondragón (born 6 July 1958) is a politician from the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country who has been the General Secretary of Basque nationalist party EH Bildu since 2017. He was member of the Basque Parliament for bo ...
Basque convicted for king insult
''
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
'', 4 November 2005. Retrieved 29 December 2007.
and cartoonists from '' El Jueves'' were tried and punished. The King gave an annual speech to the nation on
Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...
and was, as King, the commander-in-chief of the Spanish armed forces. In October 1990, Juan Carlos visited the
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
an city of
Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and ...
amidst the beginning of the Chilean transition to democracy. While he and the Queen were cheered by some, groups of indigenous
Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...
s approached the king some to protest past colonialism and others to have the King ratify past Mapuche-Spanish treaties. According to ''
El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...
'' political infighting between Mapuches prevented Juan Carlos from hosting an official meeting with Mapuche representatives. In July 2000, Juan Carlos was the target of an enraged protester when former priest Juan María Fernández y Krohn, who had once attacked
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
, breached security and attempted to approach the king. When the media asked Juan Carlos in 2005 whether he would endorse the bill legalising
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
that was then being debated in the ''Cortes Generales'', he answered ''"Soy el Rey de España y no el de Bélgica"'' ("I am the King of Spain, not of Belgium")a reference to King Baudouin of Belgium, who had refused to sign the Belgian law legalising abortion. The King gave his
Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...
to Law 13/2005 on 1 July 2005; the law legalising same-sex marriage was
gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...
d in the ''
Boletín Oficial del Estado The (''BOE''; "", from 1661 to 1936 known as the ''Gaceta de Madrid'', "") is the official gazette of the Spain, Kingdom of Spain and may be published on any day of the week. The content of the ''BOE'' is authorized and published by Royal Asse ...
'' on 2 July, and came into effect on 3 July. According to a poll in the newspaper '' El Mundo'' in November 2005, 77.5% of Spaniards thought Juan Carlos was "good or very good", 15.4% "not so good", and only 7.1% "bad or very bad". Even so, the issue of the monarchy re-emerged on 28 September 2007 as photos of the king were burnt in public in
Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
by small groups of protesters wanting the restoration of the Republic.


2007 Ibero-American Summit

In November 2007, at the Ibero-American Summit in
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
, during a heated exchange, Juan Carlos interrupted Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
, saying, "'' ¿Por qué no te callas?''" ("Why don't you shut up?"). Chávez had been interrupting the Spanish Prime Minister,
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. O ...
, while the latter was defending his predecessor and political opponent,
José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (Spain), People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spai ...
, after Chávez had referred to Aznar as a fascist and "less human than snakes". The King shortly afterwards left the hall when President
Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; ; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan politician and dictator who has been the president of Nicaragua, co-president of Nicaragua since 18 February 2025, alongside his wife Rosario Murillo. He was the 54th an ...
of Nicaragua accused Spain of intervention in his country's elections and complained about some Spanish energy companies working in Nicaragua. ("King Juan Carlos to Hugo Chávez: 'Why don't you shut up?'") This was an unprecedented diplomatic incident and a rare display of public anger by the King.


Budget of the royal house

Juan Carlos detailed for the first time in 2011 the yearly royal budget of €8.3 million, excluding expenses such as the electricity bill, paid by the State.


Botswana hunting trip

In April 2012, Juan Carlos faced criticism for an elephant-hunting trip in
Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...
. The public found out about the trip only after the King injured himself and a special aircraft was sent to bring him home. Spanish officials stated that the expenses of the trip were not paid by taxpayers or by the palace, but by Mohamed Eyad Kayali, a businessman of
Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...
origin. Cayo Lara Moya of the United Left party said the King's trip "demonstrated a lack of ethics and respect toward many people in this country who are suffering a lot" while Tomás Gómez of the Socialist party said Juan Carlos should choose between "public responsibilities or an abdication". In April 2012, Spain's unemployment was at 23% and nearly 50% for young workers. ''
El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...
'' estimated the total cost of a hunting trip at €44,000, about twice the average annual salary in Spain. A petition called for the king to resign from his position as honorary president of the Spanish branch of the
World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named th ...
. The WWF itself responded by asking for an interview with the King to resolve the situation. In July 2012, WWF Spain held a meeting in Madrid and decided with 226 votes to 13 to remove the King from its honorary presidency. He later apologised for the hunting trip. Up until the Botswana elephant trip, Juan Carlos had enjoyed a high level of shielding from media scrutiny, described as "rare among Western leaders".


Interfaith work

On the 500th anniversary of the
Alhambra Decree The Alhambra Decree (also known as the Edict of Expulsion; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Decreto de la Alhambra'', ''Edicto de Granada'') was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdi ...
in 1992, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia visited the Beth Yaacov Synagogue in Madrid, led by Chief Rabbif of Madrid Yehuda Benasouli to commemorate the occasion. While Sofia had been to the synagogue in the 1970s, the occasion marked the first time that the king had visited a synagogue in Spain. The Spanish royals were joined by Israeli President Chaim Herzog, Herzog's predecessor Yitzhak Navon, Rabbi Solomon Gaon and other Israeli and Spanish officials. Also present were descendants of Abraham Senior and
Isaac Abarbanel Isaac ben Judah Abarbanel (;‎ 1437–1508), commonly referred to as Abarbanel (; also spelled Abravanel, Avravanel or Abrabanel), was a Portuguese Jewish politician, statesman, philosophy, philosopher, Rabbinic commentaries, Bible commentator ...
, who had unsuccessfully petitioned King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to retract the edict. In 2008, Juan Carlos spoke at the opening of a 3-day Saudi-sponsored World Conference on Dialogue interfaith conference at the Royal Palace of El Pardo outside Madrid. The conference was attended by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Rabbi David Rosen, and former British Prime Minister
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
.


Abdication

Spanish
news media The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public. These include News agency, news agencies, newspapers, news magazines, News broadcasting, news channels etc. History Some of the fir ...
started to speculate about the King's future in 2013, following public criticism over his taking an elephant hunting safari in Botswana and an embezzlement scandal involving his daughter,
Infanta Cristina, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca Infanta Cristina (Cristina Federica Victoria Antonia de la Santísima Trinidad de Borbón y de Grecia, born 13 June 1965) is the younger daughter of King Juan Carlos I and his wife, Queen Sofía. She is sixth in the line of succession to th ...
, and her husband Iñaki Urdangarin. The King's private secretary, Rafael Spottorno, denied in a briefing that the "
abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the Order of succession, succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of ...
option" was being considered. On the morning of 2 June 2014, Prime Minister
Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (, ; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a 2018 vote of no confidence in the government of Mariano Rajoy, vote of no confidence ousted his government. A m ...
made a televised announcement that the King had told him of his intention to abdicate. Later, the King delivered a televised address and announced that he would abdicate the throne in favour of the Prince of Asturias. Royal officials described the King's choice as a personal decision which he had been contemplating since his 76th birthday at the start of the year. The King reportedly said, "No queremos que mi hijo se marchite esperando como el príncipe Carlos." ( English: "We do not want my son to wither waiting like
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
.") As required by the Spanish constitution, any abdication would be settled by means of an
organic law An organic law is a law, or system of laws, that form the foundation of a government, corporation or any other organization's body of rules. A constitution is a particular form of organic law. By country France Under Article 46 of the Constitutio ...
. A draft law was passed with 299 in favour, 19 against and 23 abstaining. On 18 June, he signed the organic law passed by parliament several hours before his abdication took effect. Felipe was enthroned on 19 June 2014, and Juan Carlos's granddaughter
Leonor Leonor or Léonor is the Spanish form of the given name Eleanor. People bearing the name include: * Leonor Acevedo Suárez (1876–1975), Argentine translator and mother of Jorge Luis Borges * Leonor Allende (1883–1931), Argentine writer and j ...
became the new Princess of Asturias. Juan Carlos was the fourth European monarch to abdicate in just over a year, following
Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...
(28 February 2013),
Queen Beatrix Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born during the reign of her maternal gr ...
of the Netherlands (30 April 2013), and King Albert II of Belgium (21 July 2013). The Spanish constitution at the time of the abdication did not grant an abdicated monarch the
legal immunity Legal immunity, or immunity from prosecution, is a legal status wherein an individual or entity cannot be held liable for a violation of the law, in order to facilitate societal aims that outweigh the value of imposing liability in such cases. S ...
of a head of state, but the government changed the law to allow this. However, unlike his previous immunity, the new legislation left him accountable to the
supreme court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, in a similar type of protection afforded to many high-ranking civil servants and politicians in Spain. The legislation stipulates that all outstanding legal matters relating to the former king be suspended and passed "immediately" to the supreme court.


Reactions

The Spanish press gave the announcement a broadly positive reception, but described the moment as an "institutional crisis" and "a very important moment in the history of democratic Spain". Around Spain and in major cities (including London) the news was met by republican celebration and protests, calling for the end of the monarchy. Catalan leader
Artur Mas Artur Mas i Gavarró (; born 31 January 1956) is a Catalan politician from Spain. He was president of the Government of Catalonia from 2010 to 2015 and acting president from September 2015 to 12 January 2016. Mas is a long time member of De ...
said that the news of the King's abdication would not slow down the process of independence for
Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
. Iñigo Urkullu, the President of the Basque government, concluded that the King's reign was "full of light yet also darkness" and said that his successor Felipe should remember that "the Basque Question has not been resolved". Other regional leaders had more positive evaluations of Juan Carlos following his decision to abdicate:
Alberto Núñez Feijóo Alberto Núñez Feijóo (, ; born 10 September 1961) is a Spanish politician who serves as Member of the Congress of Deputies and as president of the People's Party (Spain), People's Party. He served as the president of the Regional Government o ...
of Galicia called him "the King of Democracy" who "guaranteed the continuation of constitutional monarchy" and Alberto Fabra of the
Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...
said that Spaniards are proud of their king who had been "at the forefront of protecting our interests inside and outside of our borders". British Prime Minister
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
stated: "I would like to use this opportunity to make a tribute to King Juan Carlos, who has done so much during his reign to aid the successful Spanish transition to democracy, and has been a great friend of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
." The President of the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
,
José Manuel Barroso José Manuel Durão Barroso (; born 23 March 1956) is a Portuguese politician and law professor. He previously served from 2002 to 2004 as the List of Prime Ministers of Portugal, 114th prime minister of Portugal and from 2004–2014 as the 11 ...
, said that Juan Carlos was a "believer in Europeanism and modernity...without whom one could not understand modern Spain". The Spanish public also gave a broadly positive opinion not only of the abdication but of his reign as a whole. According to a poll taken by '' El Mundo'', 65% saw the King's reign as either good or very good, up from 41.3%. Overall, 55.7% of those polled in the 3–5 June survey by Sigma Dos supported the institution of the monarchy in Spain, up from 49.9% when the same question was posed six months prior. 57.5% believed the Prince could restore the royal family's lost prestige. An overwhelming majority of Spaniards believed the new King, Felipe VI, would make a good monarch and more than three-quarters believed King Juan Carlos had been right to hand over the throne to his son.


Retirement

After abdication, Juan Carlos continued to have a role as institutional representative of the Crown. From June 2014 to June 2019, he attended several Latin American presidential inaugurations such as the second inauguration of
Juan Manuel Santos Juan Manuel Santos Calderón (; born 10 August 1951) is a Colombian politician who was the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. He was the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. An economist by training and a journalist by trade, S ...
as president of Colombia, the inauguration of Tabaré Vázquez as president of Uruguay, and the inauguration of Mauricio Macri as president of Argentina. He also represented the
Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...
in different cultural and sports events, funerals, and awards ceremonies. Finally, the former sovereign was also present in the events about the 40th anniversary of the
Spanish Constitution of 1978 The Spanish Constitution () is the supreme law of the Kingdom of Spain. It was enacted after its approval in 1978 in a constitutional referendum; it represents the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy. The current version was a ...
. On 27 May 2019, King Juan Carlos announced by a letter to his son Felipe his intention to retire from public life on 2 June 2019.


Corruption investigations


2020 Saudi rail deal

Recordings of the former King's alleged mistress Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn speaking with a former police chief were leaked to the press in mid-2018. Sayn-Wittgenstein claimed that Juan Carlos received kick-backs from commercial contracts in the Gulf States – particularly in the late-2000s construction of the €6.7 billion Haramain high-speed railway in
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
– and maintained these proceeds in a bank account in Switzerland. She alleged that he purchased properties in Monaco under her name to circumvent the tax treatment of lawful residents, stating " otbecause he ovedme a lot, but because I reside in Monaco." She further claimed the head of the Spanish intelligence service warned her that her life, and those of her children, would be at risk if she spoke of their association. The allegations drew demands for Juan Carlos to be investigated for corruption in early June 2019. Swiss authorities began investigating Juan Carlos in March 2020 in relation to a $100 million gift to Sayn-Wittgenstein in 2012. This donation was linked to alleged kick-back fees from Saudi Arabia. Sayn-Wittgenstein reportedly told the head Swiss prosecutor on 19 December 2018 that Juan Carlos had given her €65 million out of "gratitude and love", to guarantee her future and her children's, because "he still had hopes to win her back". A letter written by Juan Carlos to his Swiss lawyers in 2018 stated the gift was irrevocable, despite his having asked in 2014 for the return of the money. On 14 March 2020, ''
The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...
'' reported that his son Felipe, King of Spain since 2014, appeared as second beneficiary (after Juan Carlos) of the Lucum Foundation, which had received a €65 million donation by King
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (, ; 1 August 1924 – 23 January 2015) was King of Saudi Arabia, King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 1 August 2005 until his death in 2015. Prior to his accession, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia si ...
. On 15 March 2020, the Royal Household declared that Felipe VI would renounce any inheritance from his father. Additionally, the Household announced that the former king would lose his public stipend from the State's General Budget. In June 2020, the public prosecutor's office of the
Supreme Court of Spain The Supreme Court ('', TS'') is the Supreme court, highest court in the Spain, Kingdom of Spain. The court has original jurisdiction over cases against high-ranking officials of the Kingdom and over cases regarding the legalization of political p ...
agreed to investigate Juan Carlos's role as facilitator in Phase II of the high speed rail connecting Mecca and Medina, intending to determine the criminal relevance of events that took place after his abdication in June 2014. As King of Spain, Juan Carlos was immune from prosecution from 1975 to 2014 by
sovereign immunity Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine whereby a monarch, sovereign or State (polity), state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from lawsuit, civil suit or criminal law, criminal prosecution, strictly speaking in mode ...
. A further investigation by Swiss authorities was undertaken regarding €3.5 million paid from the Lucum Foundation to the Bahamas-based bank Pictet & Ciein for a society called Dolphin, which was controlled by the lawyer Dante Canónica, who also controlled Lucum. In December 2021, the Swiss prosecutors dropped all cases due to the impossibility of proving any illegality.


Credit cards and bank accounts

Spanish prosecutors opened an investigation into the use by Juan Carlos and other members of the royal family of credit cards used between 2016 and 2018 which were paid for by an overseas account to which neither Juan Carlos nor any member of the royal family were signatories, leading to accusations that the funds are undisclosed assets of Juan Carlos, and as the card drawings exceeded €120,000 in one year, comprised undisclosed income and was therefore a tax offence in Spain. Mexican millionaire and investment banker Allen Sanginés-Krause has been named as the owner of the cards, a friend of Juan Carlos to whom he donated sums of money using Air Force Colonel Nicolás Murga Mendoza as an intermediary. In December 2020, Juan Carlos reportedly paid 678,393.72 euros to Spain's tax agency for the concept of defrauded money in an affair of "opaque credit cards" used between 2016 and 2018 by himself, his wife and some grandchildren, intending to avoid further scrutiny from the Supreme Court's prosecutor, the payment being an admission of fraud. Swiss and Spanish prosecutors also investigated several accounts related to the former King, such as an account in Switzerland with almost €8 million and an attempt to withdraw nearly €10 million from
Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
, possibly from a trust set up by or for Juan Carlos in the 1990s. Juan Carlos claims he is "not responsible for any Jersey trust and never has been, either directly or indirectly". In March 2022, Spanish prosecutors closed all cases against him following the same decision from Swiss prosecutors in December 2021.


Zagatka Foundation

Founded in Liechtenstein in 2003 and owned by Álvaro de Orleans-Borbón, a distant cousin of Juan Carlos who lives in Monaco received a large sum of money from Switzerland, Juan Carlos is named as the third beneficiary. In 2009 Álvaro de Orleans-Borbón paid a cheque from Mexico for €4.3 million into the account which the Swiss adjudicated belonged to Juan Carlos. Juan Carlos appears to have drawn down funds from the Zagatka foundation to spend €8 million between 2009 and 2018 on private flights, with
Air Partner Founded in 1961, Air Partner is a global aviation services group providing aircraft charter services and aviation safety & security to industry, commerce, governments and private individuals across the world. Air Partner Charter offers Group C ...
receiving around €6.1 million. Zagatka used commissions due to Juan Carlos and paid to Zagatka to invest millions, mainly in Ibex35 companies between 2003 and 2018. On 25 February 2021, Juan Carlos paid 4 million euros to the Spanish Tax Agency to avoid new tax offenses in relation with these flights.


Lucum foundation

A Panamanian Lucum foundation had Juan Carlos as the first beneficiary and King Felipe VI as a named second beneficiary, although Felipe has subsequently relinquished any inheritance from his father Juan Carlos. Lucum received $100 million from the Saudi royal house in 2008. Swiss prosecutors are concerned about who at the Swiss bank Mirabaud & Cie knows who the account was for and what was discovered about the source of the funds from the Ministry of Finance of Saudi Arabia. They are also concerned about a transfer of €3.5m from Lucum to an account held by Dante Canónica in the Bahamas. In 2012 the Mirabaud bank, which had concealed from its employees the beneficial owner of the account, asked for the account to be closed, due to possible adverse publicity; this was when the bulk of the funds were transferred to Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn.


Claims of harassment

In 2020, Sayn-Wittgenstein, resident in the United Kingdom, filed an harassment case in London against Juan Carlos, claiming he'd pressured her to return the money given to her after their break up in 2012. In 2022, Juan Carlos won an appeal that he had immunity from those allegations relating to 2012–2014 when he was still King. In 2023, the High Court of England and Wales threw out the case on the grounds that it had no jurisdiction in the matter, but made no judgement as to the substance of the allegations.


Relocation abroad

On 3 August 2020, the Royal Household announced Juan Carlos wished to relocate from Spain because of increased media press about his business dealings in Saudi Arabia, and he had left a letter to his son saying so. By the time the letter had been made public, he had already left the country. Journalists speculated that he might have fled to the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, and
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, and, later, as of 7 August, the
Emirates Palace The Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental, Abu Dhabi (Arabic: قصر الإمارات) is a luxury five-star hotel in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It has been operated by Mandarin Oriental as of 1 January 2020. The hotel project was launched ...
in
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...
. The Royal Household initially declined requests to publicly disclose Juan Carlos's location; on 17 August, the Royal Household confirmed that, since 3 August, Juan Carlos had been in the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
, where he arrived by taking a private plane from Vigo Airport. Since then, he has visited Spain regularly, mainly the town of
Sanxenxo Sanxenxo (; ) is a municipality in Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain in the province of Pontevedra (province), Pontevedra. It is situated in the southern part of the O Salnés region 15 kilometres west of the city of Pontevedra and is bordered by ...
, in the north of Spain, to do one of his favorite activities, sailing. He was also present at the private celebration that the Spanish royal family made at the Royal Palace of El Pardo to celebrate
Leonor Leonor or Léonor is the Spanish form of the given name Eleanor. People bearing the name include: * Leonor Acevedo Suárez (1876–1975), Argentine translator and mother of Jorge Luis Borges * Leonor Allende (1883–1931), Argentine writer and j ...
's 18th birthday.


Family and private life

Juan Carlos was married on 14 May 1962, to Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark, daughter of King Paul of Greece, firstly in a Roman Catholic ceremony at the Church of St. Denis, followed by a Greek Orthodox ceremony at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. She converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism. They have three children: # Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo (born 20 December 1963) #
Infanta Cristina Infanta Cristina (Cristina Federica Victoria Antonia de la Santísima Trinidad de Borbón y de Grecia, born 13 June 1965) is the younger daughter of King Juan Carlos I and his wife, Queen Sofía. She is sixth in the line of succession to the S ...
(born 13 June 1965) # King Felipe VI of Spain (born 30 January 1968) Juan Carlos is also allegedly the father of Albert Solà, born in Barcelona in 1956, also of a woman born in Catalonia in 1964, and of Ingrid Sartiau, a Belgian woman born in 1966 who has filed a paternity suit, but complete
sovereign immunity Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine whereby a monarch, sovereign or State (polity), state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from lawsuit, civil suit or criminal law, criminal prosecution, strictly speaking in mode ...
prevented that suit prior to his abdication. Juan Carlos had several extramarital affairs, which adversely affected his marriage. In 2021, the former police official José Manuel Villarejo testified that Juan Carlos was given hormones to reduce his sex drive, as it was seen as a state problem. In 1972, Juan Carlos, a keen sailor, competed in the Dragon class event at the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
, finishing 15th. During their summer holidays, the whole family spends time at Marivent Palace (
Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...
) and on the yacht ''Fortuna'', where they would take part in sailing competitions. The king has manned the Bribón series of yachts. In winter, the family often went
skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...
in Baqueira-Beret and Candanchú (
Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...
). At present, his hobbies include classic sailing boats. He also hunts bears; in October 2004, he angered
environmental activists The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...
by killing nine bears in central Romania, one of which was pregnant. It was alleged by the Russian regional authorities that in August 2006 Juan Carlos shot a drunken tame bear (Mitrofan the Bear) during a private hunting trip to Russia; the Office of the Spanish Monarchy denied this claim. He is a member of the World Scout Foundation and of the
Sons of the American Revolution The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), formally the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), is a federally chartered patriotic organization. The National Society, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Louisvi ...
.


Health

A benign 17–19 mm tumour was removed under general anaesthetic from King Juan Carlos's right
lung The lungs are the primary Organ (biology), organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the Vertebral column, backbone on either side of the heart. Their ...
in an operation carried out in the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona in May 2010. The operation followed an annual check-up, and Juan Carlos was not expected to need any further treatment. He was treated in Clinica Planas. In April 2012, the King underwent surgery for a triple fracture of the hip at the San Jose Hospital,
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, following a fall on a private elephant-hunting trip to Botswana. He also underwent a hip operation in September 2013 at Madrid's Quirón hospital. In April 2018, Juan Carlos was admitted to hospital for a surgery on his right knee. On 24 August 2019 he had heart surgery.


In popular culture

His life between 1948 and 1993 is dealt in the 2014 miniseries '. As of 2021, there are four television projects in development set to portray the former king, some of which span along a wider time period of the Royal Household: ''Palacio real. Brillo y tragedia de la monarquía española'' (Diagonal TV), ''El rey'' (The Mediapro Studio), ''El emérito'' (Mandarina Producciones) and ''XRey'' (Starzplay, Sony Pictures TV and The Weekend Studio).


Titles, styles, honours and arms

In 1969, Juan Carlos was named as General Franco's successor and was given the title of 'Prince of Spain'. Upon the death of Franco in 1975, Juan Carlos acceded to the throne of Spain. The current Spanish constitution refers to the monarch by the simple title "King of Spain". Aside from this title, the constitution allows for the use of other historic titles pertaining to the Spanish monarchy, without specifying them. This was also reiterated by a decree promulgated on 6 November 1987 concerning titles of members of the royal family. Since his abdication in 2014, King Juan Carlos has retained, by courtesy, the title of king and style of "majesty" that he enjoyed during his reign. Likewise, he maintains his military rank in reserve.


Arms


Ancestry


See also

* List of honours of the Spanish Royal Family by country * Line of succession to the Spanish throne


Notes


References


Citations


Sources

*


Further reading

* Paul Preston, ''Juan Carlos: Steering Spain from Dictatorship to Democracy'', W W Norton & Co Inc, June 2004. . * Ronald Hilton,
SPAIN: King Juan Carlos
'. * * Vilallonga, José Luis de, ''The King'', Orion Publishing, 1994. * Wilsford, David, ed. ''Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary'' (Greenwood, 1995) pp. 207–15.


External links


Official website of the Spanish Royal Family

Full text of the King's broadcast regarding his abdication

Organic Law approving Juan Carlos's abdication, published in the Boletin Oficial del Estado

Juan Carlos I abdicates (2 June 2014)

Biography by CIDOB
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