Juan Carlos I

King of Spain . He was the 12th king of the Borbon Dynasty of Spain .

The official title is 'King of Spain, Castile , Leon , Aragon , Two Sicilies, Jerusalem , Navarra, Granada , Toledo , Valencia , Galicia , Mallorca , Seville , Sardinia , Cordoba , Corsica , Murcia , Menorca , Jaen , Algarve, Algeciras , Gibraltar , Canary Islands , Spanish East Indies and West Indies , Archduke of Austria , Duke of Burgundy , Brabant , Milan , Athens and Neopatra, Count of Habsburg , Flanders , Tyrol , Roussillon and Barcelona , Lord of Biscay and Molina '[1] am.

The King of Spain retains the titles he previously held regardless of their current status. Immediately starting from Jerusalem, French Corsica , the Algarve lost in the Portuguese War of Independence , Gibraltar lost to Britain in the War of Spanish Succession , the East and West Indies lost to the United States in the Spanish-American War , the throne of Naples, the throne of Sicily and the Duke of Milan lost with the unification of Italy , and the Habsburgs. These include the Archduke of Austria , which was a brief period when the Eastern Alliance was maintained , the Duke of Athens and Neopatra, which disappeared after being conquered by the Ottoman Empire, and the Duke of Brabant and Count of Flanders, which disappeared due to the Dutch War of Independence and Belgian independence .

1938 Italian kingdom Born in Rome as a son of Count Barcelona . At the time, Alfonso 13 -year -old was exiled to Rome because of the Spanish Civil War .[2]

In 1947, Francisco Franco nominally returned Spain's system to a monarchy and became regent, but after his death he became regent . He declared that he would support the king .

Originally, the head of the House of Habsburg , Otto von Habsburg , was chosen, and Franco formally offered him the throne in 1961, but Otto von Habsburg declined and recommended Juan, Count of Barcelona, ​​first in line to the Spanish throne.[3]

According to the order of succession, Juan Carlos I's father, Count Juan of Barcelona, ​​should have been the heir to the throne.[4] Franco balked at his liberal tendencies. Count Juan was at odds with Franco, but he wanted his son to be educated in Spain, and Franco needed to increase the pool of candidates for heir to the throne. Accordingly, Count Juan sent Juan Carlos to Spain, ruled by Franco, in 1948.

Franco cared for Juan Carlos and educated him from the time he was young. Juan Carlos graduated from school in Spain, and in the late 1950s, Franco sent him to study at all three military academies in Spain.[5] And between 1960 and 1961, he studied international politics and finance at the Complutense University of Madrid . However, he was not educated at all about Spanish internal politics, and when Prince Juan Carlos asked Franco to participate in a cabinet meeting, he said, "Your Majesty did not talk to me. He refused , saying, “ It will be of no help to learn about current politics because we will rule in a completely different way . ”[6] To those who doubt the authenticity of this episode, King Juan Carlos is said to have testified that he had heard it himself.

In 1962, he married Princess Sofia of Greece and Denmark .

Juan Carlos was very obedient to Franco. Franco was like a living god in Spain, so Juan Carlos asked Franco to name his son when Felipe VI was born. In 1967, Constantinos II , who had a relationship with himself, saw the exile as an exile to the generals of the generals, and Juan Carlos laid down to Franco. However, Juan Carlos, who grew up falling away from his father, Barcelona Count Juan, had some kind of paternity in Franco, and Franco, who had no son, cared for the king as a son. Juan Carlos did not speak Franco in the public position, but he was so intimate with Franco that it would not be tolerated by others criticizing Franco.

Franco continued to train Juan Carlos, weighing the other leading royal family of Karlista and Borbon dynasty.[7] , He followed Franco. Franco, who is satisfied with Juan Carlos, decides Juan Carlos as a new king instead of Count Juan, who has no intention of obeying him, and in 1969, he declares him as 'King of Spain' and at the same time as his successor. Traditionally, Spanish throne successor is given the title ' Asturias Gong ', but Franco gave Juan Carlos I the title 'Príncipe de España'. Count Juan, who found out that his son went to Spain with a negotiating card with Franco, was inherited by his head and inherited the throne.

However, even at this time, Juan Carlos was just a face to Franco. In fact, the person Franco nominated as his successor was a naval marshal who had been his close associate since the Spanish Civil War. Luis Carrero Blanco It was an admiral . Franco appointed him prime minister in 1973 and was in the process of succeeding him, and the Spanish military openly ridiculed Juan Carlos, calling him an ese niño. However, a variable occurred in which Admiral Blanco was assassinated due to terrorism by the Basque separatist group ETA . The Franco regime , which suddenly lost its successor, found itself in a very difficult situation.


Juan Carlos shaking hands with Franco (right) in 1969.

In the end, Franco had no choice but to make Juan Carlos, who he presented as a simple-faced madam, the true successor to the Franco regime. Public opinion reversed as the military also wanted Juan Carlos to become the second Caudillo , and Franco ordered the military to give absolute support to Juan Carlos.[8] It established the authority of Juan Carlos.

Juan Carlos I, who became the heir to the Spanish throne in place of his father, ascended to the throne on November 22, 1975, immediately after Franco's death, and reinstated the Bourbon dynasty . The Arias Navarro cabinet, previously appointed by Franco, was retained as the first cabinet of the monarchy, and the Declaration of Cortés on January 28, 1976 emphasized the continuity of the Franco regime and the Kingdom of Spain, showing a past-oriented appearance. Spain under Juan Carlos I seemed to be drifting toward a military dictatorship no different from the past, and Francoists, including the Bunker faction, supported Juan Carlos I's replacement of Caudillo. He wanted to rule with an iron fist. Accordingly, the whole world paid attention to what kind of rule Juan Carlos I would have.[9] At the time, Spain was in a state of extreme chaos, with 200,000 people on strike and 2,400 organizations going on strike in Madrid alone. As the Spanish economy deteriorated, public dissatisfaction was increasing.

King Juan Carlos I recognized that maintaining the Franco regime was a threat to the monarchy itself, and pressured Prime Minister Navarro to resign voluntarily, including criticizing him as the standard-bearer of the bunker faction. And in 1976, he appointed Adolfo Suarez as prime minister and began democratic reform. Since Suarez was also a technocrat during the Franco regime, the democratic forces initially thought that Suarez's appointment as prime minister was a blind eye to maintaining the dictatorship, but Suarez declared the principle of sovereign sovereignty and promised a referendum for political reform, legalization of left-wing parties ( Social Labor Party and Communist Party ), and general elections for multi-party democracy, which made the democratic forces, who had expressed disappointment, take a second look at the Suarez cabinet. In addition, he advocated for the dismantlement of Franco's corporatist Cortes and promoted the dismantling of the Franco system in earnest through reform within the system 'from law to law.' Meanwhile, Juan, Count of Barcelona, ​​who had claimed the Spanish throne until then, saw his son's democratization efforts and recognized his son as King of Spain, thereby giving up his right to succeed to the throne and strengthening Juan Carlos I.

In June 1977 , a nationwide general election was held, the first general election in Spanish history in about 40 years. The new bicameral parliament convened by the election formally dismantled the Franco regime by enacting the current Spanish Constitution in 1978, which is based on democracy , parliamentary system , local autonomy , bicameralism , and constitutional monarchy .

 more details1981 Spanish coup attempt documentcastPlease note.

In 1981 , some hardliners within the Spanish military who opposed political reform staged a coup , took about 350 cabinet members and members of the National Assembly hostage, and demanded that he return to the Franco regime. This was called the 1981 Spanish Coup Attempt ( 23-F ). It was a truly imminent situation, but Juan ordered the division commanders in each region not to participate in the coup, and everyone obeyed.[10] He held a press conference dressed in formal attire as an Army Marshal, demanding the coup forces to surrender and at the same time appealing to the entire public to support the democratic government.

Eventually, the coup d'etat failed to oppose Juan Carlos I, and even the Spanish Communist Party, which was the party's elimination of the feudal class at the time, changed the policy lines to the establishment of the civilian, praising Carlos I, and in Spain, he received tremendous support as a guardian of democracy .

In 1982, Felipe González became Prime Minister, and the first Socialist Labor Party government came into power after Franco's death. Afterwards, Spain's democracy was stabilized, and Juan Carlos I established the king's role in Spanish politics by refraining from political intervention in line with the purpose of constitutional monarchy and democracy. His political role was limited to serving as a symbol of national unity and mediating negotiations between political parties to relieve political tension. The king had many powers under the constitution, but those powers were exercised only on the advice of the cabinet.

In addition, it played a big role in Spain's diplomacy. By promoting democratization, it restored Spain's diplomatic status, which had fallen due to the dictatorship of the Franco regime, and played a major role in Spain's accession to NATO and the European Community . It also improved relations with the Vatican , which had been deteriorating since the Second Vatican Council .

He was a king so respected by the people that he was proudly ranked first in a survey of the most respected Spaniards in 2007 , but as the economic crisis worsened and various policy failures occurred, Juan Carlos I's approval rating began to decline.

2012 On April 14 , the King, who was visiting Botswana to hunt elephants, fell while trying to go to the bathroom and broke his hip bone . He was evacuated to his home country and underwent surgery . Public opinion in Spain has worsened because the King, who said just a few weeks ago that 'I can't sleep when I think about youth unemployment and the economic crisis', was humiliated when he went on a trip abroad to enjoy entertainment that costs $9,000 to $26,000 to hunt a single animal . In addition, because Juan Carlos I was the honorary president of the animal protection organization World Wildlife Fund, the criticism was even stronger. In the end, for the first time in history, he issued a public apology. # He apologized, but even before he did, he was harshly criticized as it became known that he had rejected the apology, saying, 'The king's apology is unprecedented.'

For your information, perhaps because of the aftereffects of the hip surgery I had at that time, I wore assistive devices for a while when appearing at official appearances. Even after his condition improved and he was able to walk without the help of assistive devices, there were concerns that his health was worsening because he had to rely on a cane to walk. To make matters worse, rumors of an affair with a German woman arose around the same time. At a time when public sentiment in mainland Spain was already extremely negative due to the economic crisis in the 2010s, several scandals within the royal family further worsened public opinion toward the royal family.[11] In this situation, voices calling for the abolition of the monarchy and the revival of the republic, which were minority opinions, are growing louder.

Still, it is true that the achievements of the past cannot be completely denied, and the aging king whom they have served for so long cannot be suddenly toppled, so no matter how many problems he had in his private life, the Spanish people seemed to tolerate him. However, it is unclear how things will change if the current economic crisis and social atmosphere of disappointment with the royal family continue. As recently as 2007, the Spanish people's trust in the king was so absolute that a magazine that published a cartoon criticizing the king was met with criticism from public opinion and had to issue a public apology. And although it varies depending on the statistical data, until the late 2000s, the percentage of people who publicly supported the republic was less than 20%. However, in 2013, the majority of the people responded that they supported the republic. # Even taking into account the different tendencies of each media company, the reputation has turned over in just a few years.

The Spanish people's respect and admiration for King Juan Carlos was in fact greatly influenced by the fact that it was the end of the Franco regime. In fact, from the signing of the Moncloa Agreement in 1977 immediately after Franco's death, to the first successful general election since the civil war, to the passage of a new constitution in 1978, and to the coup attempt in February 1981, Spain has been in a chaotic situation for several years due to the clashes of numerous political groups. Extreme left-wing terrorist group[12] , large left-wing labor unions such as the CNT and UGT, extreme right-wing figures in the military and politics with a maverick style called the 'Bunker faction' at the time, and a far-right terrorist group that carried out terrorist attacks on legalized left-wing labor activists and lawyers.[13] , ETA, which committed bloody terrorism for the independence of the Basque Country, and the nationalist forces of Catalonia and Galicia who followed ETA's example and became more hard- lined, various groups sprang up and terrorist attacks occurred frequently, making it an unstable era in which the entire population was trembling with fear.

King Juan Carlos suppressed the coup in February, quelling instability in the democratization process and bringing about a smooth change in the system. The older generation showed absolute support for the king, who brought stability and put an end to this unstable era, but the younger generation, who were born in a time of peace after this chaos, had no achievements worthy of support. The humiliation of his later years is evidence that as Spanish society emerged from the shadow of the Franco regime, respect for King Juan Carlos, who was the greatest beneficiary of that shadow, for better or for worse, also disappeared. And as it became difficult for him to carry out his official duties, including undergoing eight surgeries in three years, there were even claims that he should abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Felipe. # The royal family and the prime minister initially denied the possibility of the king's abdication, but on June 2, 2014, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced the king's abdication through a statement broadcast on television.[14] However, the situation did not stabilize, with demonstrations demanding constitutional amendments breaking out across the country on the day of his abdication . On the 11th, the Spanish House of Representatives passed a motion for the King's abdication with 299 votes in favor, 19 against, and 23 abstentions . On the 17th, the Senate also approved the abdication motion, and Crown Prince Felipe was crowned as King Felipe VI on June 19 .

In early August 2014, just over a month after his abdication, the controversy grew again when a man named Alberto Sola and a woman named Ingrid Sartiau, who claimed to be Juan Carlos I's biological father, each filed a paternity suit. There was criticism as to whether this was the reason for his hasty abdication. He even drew further criticism as he was known to have passed a bill in the National Assembly right before his abdication to change the immunity that originally applied only during his reign to apply even after his abdication.

Thanks to the immunity obtained in this way, the paternity suit itself was not established, and even though Spain's higher court has the authority to request paternity confirmation, no action has been taken since then. Accordingly, Ingrid Sartiau is staying in Belgium , her home country, as of June 2017 , and is requesting that the lawsuit proceed according to the procedures. On the other hand, there has been no special news since 2015 for Alberto Sola, a Spanish national, as his paternity suit was dismissed due to the former king's immunity, as mentioned above. Nevertheless, as of 2015, Juan Carlos I's approval rating is high at 41%. King Felipe VI's approval rating was 66%.

In 2016, he attended the funeral of Fidel Castro .

In 2018, King Juan Carlos I was accused of tax evasion and money laundering by his mistress. # According to his lover's claim, Juan Carlos I did shopping in Morocco under his own name , and Saudi Arabia received orders from Spain. It is said that in return for arbitrating the delayed payment of 210 million euros for the Haramain high-speed rail project on time, he received a fee of 80 million euros and created a borrowed-name account in his cousin's name and stored it in a Swiss bank.

He completely retired from public life in June 2019. #

In March 2020, he was stripped of his royal dividend. # Eventually, as public opinion deteriorated due to the above corruption scandal, he announced that he was leaving Spain. Although it was expressed in a noble way because he was a former king, in reality, it was a flight abroad.[15] It was confirmed that he left for the United Arab Emirates on August 3rd . #

In Spain, there is a movement that seems to be trying to get rid of Juan Carlos' name. #

He is being investigated by the prosecution for suspicion of fraudulent use of a credit card. #

Former King Juan Carlos I paid a lump sum of undeclared taxes amounting to 678,393.72 euros (about 900 million won). #

He was embroiled in a lawsuit on charges of mobilizing intelligence agencies to threaten his former lover. # It was later dismissed. #

I returned home two years after leaving my home country. #

In 2023, he attended the funeral of his brother-in-law, Constantine II , with his wife, Queen Sophia .

He married Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark, the eldest daughter of King Pavlos of Greece , and had one son and two daughters, including King Felipe VI .