Spain’s King Juan Carlos abdicates after 39-year reign

King Juan Carlos, who has been on the throne since 1975, will step down to let his son Crown Prince Felipe take over.

Spain’s King Juan Carlos, centre, is accompanied by Crown Prince Felipe, left, and Princess Letizia, right, during the Spanish National day military parade in Madrid on on October 12, 2012. The 76-year-old King Juan Carlos will abdicate in favour of his son, Prince Felipe, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced on June 2, 2014. Dominique Faget/AFP PhotoShow less

MADRID // Spain's King Juan Carlos will be abdicating to pave the way for his son to take over, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told the country in a nationwide broadcast on Monday.

He did not say when the handover would take place as the government must now craft a law creating a legal mechanism for the abdication and for 46-year-old Crown Prince Felipe’s assumption of power.

King Juan Carlos, 76, has been on the throne since 1975 and oversaw his country’s transition from dictatorship to democracy.

He has had repeated health problems in recent years, and has suffered a decline in popularity following a few royal scandals that include an elephant-shooting trip he made in the middle of Spain’s financial crisis. During that trip, he broke his right hip and had to be flown from Botswana back to Spain for medical treatment aboard a private jet.

His image was also tarnished by the investigation of his son-in-law, who is suspected of embezzling large amounts in public contracts.

Prince Felipe would presumably take the title Felipe IV. He has a law degree from Madrid’s Autonomous University and obtained a masters in international relations from Georgetown University in the United States.

The Crown Prince is married to Princess Letizia, a former television journalist, and they have two daughters.

Like his father, Prince Felipe has travelled the globe trying to maintain Spain’s influence especially in former Latin American colonies, while seeking to promote the country’s international business interests.

King Juan Carlos came to power in 1975, two days after the death of his predecessor General Francisco Franco, a fascist dictator who had risen to power with the support of Nazi Germany.

He endeared himself to many Spaniards when he quashed an attempted military coup in 1981 as a young and largely untested head-of-state.

As Spain's new democracy matured over the years, the king played a largely figurehead role, travelling the globe as an ambassador for the country, and was a stabilising force in a country with restive, independence-minded regions such as the Basque region and Catalonia.

“He has been a tireless defender of our interests,” Mr Rajoy said. Earlier on Monday, the king sent a letter to Mr Rajoy announcing his intentions.

King Juan Carlos has melded the trappings of royalty with down-to-earth, regular-guy charm. He is an avid sports fan and after the Madrid terror bombings of March 11, 2004, showed he could grieve like anyone else.

At an emotional state funeral for the 191 people killed in the train bombings by Islamic militants, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia slowly went row-by-row through Madrid’s Almudena Cathedral, clasping the hands of sobbing mourners or kissing them on the cheek.

But his patient work nearly came undone during the financial crisis, with people questioning whether a hereditary monarchy was needed after his elephant-hunting trip.

The World Wildlife Fund’s branch in Spain ousted King Juan Carlos as its honorary president – a title he’d held since 1968 – after deciding the hunt was incompatible with its goal of conserving endangered species. The king took the unprecedented step of apologising to Spaniards for his actions.

He recently said that he wanted to be remembered as “the king who has united all Spaniards”.

* Associated Press