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'Juan Carlos I' (baptized as ''Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias''; born
January 5,
1938,
Rome,
Italy) is the reigning
King of
Spain.
On
22 November 1975, two days after the death of
Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos was designated King according to the law of succession promulgated by Franco. He successfully oversaw the
transition of
Spain to a
democratic constitutional monarchy. Recent polls show that he is widely approved of by Spaniards.
[1]
Juan Carlos's titles include that of
King of Jerusalem, as successor to the royal family of
Naples. He is also a descendant of Queen
Victoria of the United Kingdom through his grandmother,
Victoria Eugenie; of
Louis XIV of France through the
House of Bourbon; of the
Emperor Charles V, who belonged to the
Habsburg dynasty of the
Holy Roman Empire; of the
House of Savoy of
Italy; etc.
His name, when rarely
anglicised, is rendered as ''John Charles Alphonse Victor Maria of Bourbon (and Bourbon-Two Sicilies)''. He was given these names after his father (Juan de Borbon), grandfather (Alfonso XIII) and maternal grandfather (Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies).
Early life
Born as son of H.R.H. Infante Don
Juan de Borbón, ''
Count of Barcelona (Conde de Barcelona )'', son of
Alfonso XIII of Spain, and Princess
Maria Mercedes of Bourbon-Orleans. He has one older sibling, a sister,
Infanta Pilar, and two younger ones,
Infanta Margarita, and the late
Infante Alfonso. He was baptized by
Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, the future
Pope Pius XII.
The future King's early life was dictated largely by the political concerns of his father and Franco. He moved to Spain in 1948 to be
educated there after his father persuaded Franco to allow this. He began his studies in
San Sebastián and finished them in 1954 at the San Isidro Institute in
Madrid. He then joined the
army, undergoing officer training from 1955-1957 in
Zaragoza.
In 1956, when Juan Carlos was 18, he reportedly shot and killed his younger brother,
Infante Alfonso, in a gunplay accident after returning home from Mass. This event occurred in the family residence in
Estoril,
Portugal[2].
Starting in 1957, he spent a year in the
naval school at
Pontevedra and another in the
air force school in
San Javier in
Murcia. In 1961, he graduated from the
Complutense University, majoring in Political and International Law, Economics and Public Administration. He then went to live in the
Zarzuela Palace, and began carrying out official duties.
'Prince of Spain', 1969-1975
The regime of
Francisco Franco had come to power during the
Spanish Civil War, which had pitted
republicans,
anarchists,
socialists, and
Communists against conservatives, monarchists, and
fascists, with the latter group ultimately emerging successful. Despite his alliance with monarchists, Franco was not eager to restore the deposed Spanish monarchy once in power, preferring to head a regime with himself as
head of state for life. Though Franco's partisan supporters generally accepted this arrangement for the present, much debate quickly ensued over who would replace Franco when he died. Monarchist factions demanded the return of a hard-line
absolute monarchy, and eventually Franco agreed that his successor would be a monarch.
The heir to the throne of Spain was
Juan de Borbón ''(Count of Barcelona)'', the son of the late
Alfonso XIII. However, Franco viewed the heir with extreme suspicion, believing him to be a
liberal who was opposed to his regime. Franco then considered giving the throne to Juan Carlos's cousin (and proven Francoist)
Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz, who had married Franco's granddaughter in 1972. In response, Juan Carlos started to use his second name ''
Carlos'' to assert his claim to the heritage of the
Carlist branch of his family.
Ultimately, Franco decided to skip a generation and name Prince Juan Carlos as his personal successor. Franco hoped the young Prince could be groomed to take over the nation while still maintaining the ultra-conservative nature of his regime. In 1969, Juan Carlos was officially designated heir and was given the new title of Prince of Spain (not the traditional
Prince of Asturias).
Juan Carlos met and consulted with Franco many times while
heir apparent and often performed official and ceremonial state functions alongside the dictator, much to the anger of hard-line republicans and more moderate liberals, who had hoped that Franco's death would bring in an era of reform. During those years, Juan Carlos publicly supported Franco's regime. However, as the years progressed, Juan Carlos began meeting with political opposition leaders and exiles, who were fighting to bring liberal reform to the country. Franco, for his part, remained largely oblivious to the prince's actions and denied allegations 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. Near death, on
30 October,
1975, Franco gave full control to Juan Carlos. On
22 November, upon Franco's death, the
Cortes Generales proclaimed Juan Carlos King of Spain and on
November 27, Juan Carlos ascended the Spanish throne with an anointing ceremony called ''Holy Spirit Mass'' which was the equivalent to a
coronation at the Jerónimos Church in Madrid.
Restoration of the monarchy
After Franco's death, Juan Carlos I quickly instituted
democratic reforms, to the great displeasure of
fascist and
conservative (
monarchist) elements, especially in the military, who had expected him to maintain the authoritarian state. He appointed
Adolfo Suárez, a former leader of the
Movimiento Nacional, as
Prime Minister of Spain.
On
20 May 1977, the leader of the only-recently legalized
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)
Felipe González, accompanied by
Javier Solana, visited Juan Carlos in the Zarzuela Palace. The event represented a key endorsement of the monarchy from Spain's political
left, who had been historically
republican. Left-wing support for the monarchy grew when the
Communist Party of Spain was legalized shortly thereafter, a move Juan Carlos had pressed for, despite enormous right-wing military opposition at that time, during the
Cold War.
On
15 June 1977, Spain held its first post-Franco democratic elections. In 1978, a new
Constitution was promulgated that acknowledged Juan Carlos as rightful heir of the Spanish
dynasty and King. This language justified Juan Carlos' position by deeming him
Head of State of a democratic, historical monarchy, and not simply the appointed heir of the dictator Franco. The Constitution was passed by the democratically elected Cortes Generales, ratified by the people in a referendum and then signed into law by the King before a solemn meeting of the Cortes.
Further legitimacy had been restored to Juan Carlos´ position on
14 May 1977, when his father, Don Juan (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 the
''de facto'' and the
''de jure'' (rightful) King in the eyes of the traditional monarchists. Juan Carlos, who was already King since Franco's death, gave an acceptance address after his father’s resignation speech and thanked him by confirming the title of
Count of Barcelona that Don Juan had assumed in exile.
Under the new 1978 Constitution Juan Carlos relinquished absolute power and became a reigning but non-ruling monarch. The reforms of these years attracted considerable animosity from the armed forces, which ultimately culminated in an
attempted military coup on
23 February 1981, in which the
Cortes was seized by members of the
Guardia Civil in the parliamentary chamber (see
23-F). According to the widely accepted version, the coup ended up being thwarted by the public television broadcast by the King, calling for unambiguous support for the legitimate democratic government. In the hours before his speech, he had personally called many senior military figures to tell them that he was opposed to the coup, and that they had to defend the democratic government. However, some authors (like Ronald Hilton) cast doubt over the King's role in the events. According to the explanation offered by Patricia Sverlo, author of a biography of Juan Carlos, the coup was actually organized by the Spanish establishment to neutralize the risk of a real coup by the army, moderate the left wingers' reformist demands, and increase Juan Carlos's popularity.
When Juan Carlos became king,
Communist leader
Santiago Carrillo nicknamed him ''Juan Carlos the Brief'', predicting that the monarchy would be swept away with the other remnants of the Franco era. After the collapse of the attempted coup mentioned above, in an emotional statement, Carrillo told television viewers "God save the King". The Communist leader also remarked: "Today, we are all monarchists". If public support for the monarchy among democrats and leftists prior to 1981 was limited, following the King's handling of the coup, it became notably wider. According to a poll by "Sigma Dos" published 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."
Role in contemporary Spanish politics
The election of socialist leader
Felipe González to the Spanish prime ministership in 1982 marked the effective end of Juan Carlos' active involvement in Spanish politics. González would govern for over a decade, and his administration helped consolidate the democratic gains initiated by Juan Carlos and thus maintained the stability of the nation. Today the King exercises little real power over the country's
politics, but is regarded as an essential symbol of the country's unity. Unlike many other European monarchs, under the constitution, the King has immunity from prosecution in matters relating to his official duties. This is so because every act of the King as such (and not as a citizen) needs to be undersigned by a government official, thus making the undersigner responsible instead of the king. He gives an annual speech to the nation on
Christmas Eve. He is the
commander-in-chief of the Spanish armed forces. He does however have informal powers such as giving speeches. This has been known to cause controversy when he spoke in order to see the handing back of
Gibraltar in
1991 at the
United Nations General Assembly, during which he described the issue as ''an unresolved colonial problem which affects Spain's territorial integrity''.
In 1979, King Juan Carlos I instituted the
Ruta de Quetzal as a way to promote cultural exchange between students from Spain and
Latin America. In 1987, he became the first King of Spain to visit the former Spanish possession of
Puerto Rico.
Family and private life
Juan Carlos and his wife,
Sofía
Juan Carlos was married in
Athens on
14 May,
1962, to HRH
Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark, daughter of
King Paul. She was
Greek Orthodox but converted to
Roman Catholicism in order to become Spain's Queen. They had two daughters,
Elena and
Cristina, and a son, the heir apparent,
Felipe.
In 1972, Juan Carlos, a keen sailor, competed in the
Dragon class event at the
Olympic Games, though he did not win any medals. In their summer holidays, the whole family meets in Marivent Palace (
Palma de Mallorca), where they take part in sailing competitions. In winter, they used to go
skiing in
Baqueira-Beret and
Candanchú (
Pyrenees).
In August 2006, it is alleged that Juan Carlos shot a drunken tame bear during a private hunting trip to Russia. The office of the Spanish Monarchy denies these claims, which are made by Russian regional authorities.
[3]
Juan Carlos and his consort both speak several languages. They both speak
Spanish,
English, and
French. Unlike the Queen however, Juan Carlos does not speak
German, nor her native language,
Greek, a fact he regrets. Besides these languages, the King speaks fluent
Italian,
Portuguese and
Catalan.
Juan Carlos is an
amateur radio operator and holds the call sign EA0JC.
Titles
Main articles: List of titles and honours of the Spanish Crown
King Juan Carlos I is a direct descendant of many famous European rulers from different countries, such as
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (who reigned in Spain as Carlos I),
King Louis XIV of France and
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Therefore, he is related to all the current monarchs of Europe.
The current Spanish constitution refers to the monarchy as "the crown of Spain" and the constitutional title of the monarch is simply ''rey/reina de España'': that is, "king/queen of Spain". However, the constitution allows for the use of other historic titles pertaining to the Spanish monarchy, without specifying them. A decree promulgated
6 November 1987 at the Council of Ministers regulates the titles further, and on that basis the monarch of Spain has a right to use ("may use") those other titles appertaining to the Crown. Contrary to some belief, the long titulary that contains the list of over 20 kingdoms, etc., is not in state use, nor is it used in Spanish diplomacy. In fact, it has never been in use in that form, as "Spain" was never a part of the list in pre-1837 era when the long list was officially used.
Spain, unmentioned in titulary for more than three centuries, was
symbolized by the long list that started "...of Castile, Leon, Aragon,..." - The following long titulary in the feudal style was the last used officially in 1836 by
Isabella II of Spain (see the account of titulary in her article) before she became constitutional queen:
Other honours
He has been the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, including from
University of Santo Tomas, Philippines,
Southern Methodist University (where, in 2001, he formally opened the
Meadows Museum, housing the largest collection of Spanish art outside Spain), and
St. Mary's University, Texas. Juan Carlos also has received honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from New York University, and
University of Utrecht,
the Netherlands (25 October 2001)
[4]. In 1997, NYU opened the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center (to promote research and teaching on Spain and the Spanish-speaking world) in the historic Judson Hall and adjacent buildings on Washington Square in New York City. He is also a member of the
Sons of the American Revolution organization.
[5]
Ancestors
See also
★
List of national leaders
★
History of Spain
★
Politics of Spain
★
Line of succession to the Spanish Throne
★
List of titles and honours of the Spanish Crown
★
Mitrofan
External links
★
Official page of the Spanish Royal Family
★
Oath of Juan Carlos de Borbón taking place as King of Spain (Spanish)
★ []
★
His pedigree; not necessarily reliable
★
"Popular king who quashed a coup falls from favour with his subjects. Spanish Royal Family criticised over lifestyle after their financial affairs are exposed for the first time" (The Times, August 31, 2007)
References
★ Paul Preston, ''Juan Carlos: Steering Spain from Dictatorship to Democracy'', W W Norton & Co Inc, June 2004. ISBN 0-393-05804-2.
★ Ronald Hilton, ''
SPAIN: King Juan Carlos''.
Footnotes
1. http://www.elpais.com/especiales/2000/rey/rey.swf
2. Paul Preston, ''Juan Carlos: A People's King,'' HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, London, United Kingdom, 2004, ISBN 0002556324
3. [1]
4. [2]
5. [3]
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