Juan Carlos I of Spain

From Free net encyclopedia

(Redirected from Juan Carlos I)
King Juan Carlos I
Image:KingJuanCarlosI.jpg
Reign 30 October, 1975 - Present
Coronation 22 November, 1975
Predecessor Vacant
Heir Apparent Felipe, Prince of Asturias
Spouse Sofia of Greece and Denmark
Issue Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo
Infanta Cristina
Felipe, Prince of Asturias
Royal House Bourbon
Father Juan
Mother Maria Mercedes de Borbón
Born January 5, 1938
Rome, Italy

Juan Carlos I (Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; pron. IPA: Template:IPA; born January 5, 1938), is the reigning King of Spain. On November 22 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.

Juan Carlos Cadavid also claims the title of King of Jerusalem, as the successor to the royal family of Naples. He is also a direct descendant of the United Kingdom's Queen Victoria through his grandmother Victoria Eugenie, and Louis XIV of France through the House of Bourbon.

Contents

[edit]

Early life

The future King's early life was dictated largely by the political concerns of his father, Juan de Borbón, 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, doing his officer training, 1955-1957, in Zaragoza.

According to Paul Preston, in 1956, when Juan Carlos was 18, he accidentally shot his younger brother, the Infante Alfonso, causing his death. This event happened in the family residence in Estoril, Portugal.

From 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. He then went to live in the Palace of Zarzuela, and began carrying out official engagements.

[edit]

Franco's heir, 1969-1975

The regime of Francisco Franco had come to power during the Spanish Civil War, which had pitted republicans and socialists against conservatives, monarchists and fascists, with the latter group ultimately emerging successful. Despite his alliance with monarchists, Franco was not keen to restore the deposed Spanish monarchy once in power, preferring to instead 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 should he be assassinated, or otherwise eventually pass away. Monarchist factions demanded the return of a hard-line absolute monarchy, and eventually Franco agreed that his successor would be a monarch.

Template:Spanish Royal Family

The heir to the throne of Spain was Juan de Borbón, 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 played with giving the throne to Juan Carlos's cousin, Alfonso de Borbón Dampierre. In response, Juan Carlos started to use his second name Carlos to assert his pretensions 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 to the Head of State. 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 these 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 October 30, 1975, Franco gave control to Juan Carlos. On November 22 the Cortes Generales made Juan Carlos King of Spain.Image:Spain-standard.PNGImage:Escudo JC-I.png

[edit]

Restoration of the monarchy

Image:Queen sophia laura george w and juan carlos.jpg After Franco's death Juan Carlos I quickly instituted democratic reforms, to the great displeasure of conservative 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 May 20, 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 military opposition.

On June 15, 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. Further legitimacy had been restored to his position May 14, 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, 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, adopted by the Cortes, confirmed in a referendum and promulgated by Juan Carlos, that he relinquished absolute power and became a reigning but non-ruling monarch. The reforms of these years had gained considerable animosity from the armed forces, which ultimately culminated in an attempted military coup on February 23, 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 must 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 would have been 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. Template:Infobox hrhstyles

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 coup, in an emotional statement, Carrillo told television viewers "God save the King." If public support for the monarchy among democrats and left wingers 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, the opinion of Spaniards about Juan Carlos was "good or very good" for 77.5%, "not so good" for 15.4%, and "bad or very bad" for 7.1%.

[edit]

Role in contemporary Spanish politics

Image:2e es.png

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 rule 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. He gives an annual speech to the nation on Christmas Eve. He is the commander-in-chief of the Spanish armed forces.

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.

[edit]

Family and private life

Juan Carlos was married in Athens on May 14, 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 go skiing in Baqueira-Beret (Pyrenees).

Juan Carlos is an Amateur Radio Operator, call sign EA1JC.

[edit]

Ancestry and titles

King Juan Carlos I is a direct descendant of many famous European rulers, such as Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (who was the first King of 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.

Juan Carlos I titled or styled:

[edit]

See also

[edit]

External links

[edit]

References

Template:Start box Template:S-hou Template:S-off Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-inc Template:S-reg |- Template:S-vac Template:S-ttl Template:S-inc Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:End boxar:خوان كارلوس الأول من أسبانيا ast:Xuan Carlos I d'España zh-min-nan:Se-pan-gâ ê thâu I ê Juan Carlos be:Хуан-Карлас I ca:Joan Carles I d'Espanya de:Juan Carlos I. (Spanien) et:Juan Carlos I es:Juan Carlos I eo:Johano Karlo la 1-a (Hispanio) eu:Joan Karlos I.a fr:Juan Carlos Ier d'Espagne ga:Juan Carlos I na Spáinne gl:Xoán Carlos I de España ko:에스파냐의 후안 카를로스 1세 it:Juan Carlos I di Spagna he:חואן קרלוס הראשון la:Ioannes Carolus I Hispaniae Rex nl:Juan Carlos I van Spanje ja:フアン・カルロス1世 (スペイン王) no:Juan Carlos I av Spania pl:Jan Karol I Burbon pt:Juan Carlos da Espanha ru:Хуан Карлос I sk:Juan Carlos I. sr:Хуан Карлос I fi:Juan Carlos I sv:Juan Carlos I av Spanien zh:胡安·卡洛斯一世

Retrieved from "http://www.netipedia.com/index.php/Juan_Carlos_I_of_Spain"