Juan Carlos I Of Spain
Juan Carlos I (; born 5 January 1938) is the current King of Spain. On 22 November 1975, two days after General Francisco Franco's death, Juan Carlos was designated King according to the law of succession promulgated by Franco. In 1969, when Franco named Juan Carlos as the next head of state, Spain had had no monarch for 38 years. The Spanish Constitution of 1978, voted in referendum, acknowledges him expressly as King of Spain. The Spanish Constitution, Title II: the Crown, Article 56, Subsection 1, affirms the role of the Spanish monarch as the symbol of Spanish state's enduring unity and permanence; and as such, the monarch is the head-of-state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed Forces in a system known in Spanish as monarquía parlamentaria (constitutional monarchy).
King Juan Carlos successfully oversaw the transition of Spain from dictatorship to parliamentary monarchy.
Juan Carlos married Sophia of Greece and Denmark on 14 May 1962. The couple have three children and eight grandchildren.
Polls from 2000 show that he is widely approved of by Spaniards. According to the Spanish Constitution, the monarch is also instrumental in promoting Ibero-American relations, the "nations of its historical community". In this capacity, the King of Spain serves as the president of the Ibero-American States Organization, representing over 700,000,000 people in 24 member nations worldwide. In 2008 he was considered the most popular leader in all Ibero-America.
In other languages of Spain, the name of the King Juan Carlos I is adapted as:
- Catalan Joan Carles I ( or ).
- Galician: Xoán Carlos I .
- Basque: Joan Karlos Ia .
Read more about Juan Carlos I Of Spain: Early Life, Prince of Spain, 1969–1975, Restoration of The Monarchy, Role in Contemporary Spanish Politics, Family and Private Life, Health, Budget of The Royal House, Titles, Styles, Honours and Arms, Ancestors
Famous quotes containing the words juan, carlos and/or spain:
“Is that the Craig Jurgesen that Teddy Roosevelt gave you?... And you used it at San Juan Hill defending liberty. Now you want to destroy it.”
—Laurence Stallings (1894–1968)
“One by one objects are defined—
It quickens: clarity, outline of leaf
But now the stark dignity of
entrance—Still, the profound change
has come upon them: rooted, they
grip down and begin to awaken”
—William Carlos Williams (1883–1963)
“How the devil am I to prove to my counsel that I don’t know my murderous impulses through C.G. Jung, jealousy through Marcel Proust, Spain through Hemingway ... It’s true, you need never have read these authorities, you can absorb them through your friends, who also live all their experiences second-hand. What an age!”
—Max Frisch (1911–1991)