Juan Carlos's father, Juan, was the third son of Francisco Franco took over the government of Spain after his victory in the Spanish Civil War in 1939, yet in 1947 Spain's status as a monarchy was affirmed and a law was passed allowing Franco to choose his successor. According to a poll taken by Juan Carlos continued to have a role as institutional representative. Juan Carlos is the grandson of Alfonso XIII, the last king of Spain before the abolition of the monarchy in 1931 and the subsequent declaration of the Second Spanish Republic. Alfonso had won a local junior golf tournament earlier in the day, then went to evening Mass and rushed up to the room to see Juan Carlos who had come home for the Easter holidays from military school.After learning this news, his father Juan of Bourbon reportedly grabbed Juan Carlos by the neck and shouted at him angrily, "Swear to me that you didn't do it on purpose! Why did Juan Carlos go into exile?
Media caption King Juan Carlos said his son Prince Felipe would "open a new era of hope". Juan Carlos was born in Rome during his family's exile. ",Ultimately, Franco decided to skip a generation and name Juan de Borbón's son, Prince Juan Carlos, as his personal successor. Juan Carlos continued to praise Franco and his government for the economic growth and positive changes in Spain.During periods of Franco's temporary incapacity in 1974 and 1975, Juan Carlos was On 27 November, a Mass of the Holy Spirit was celebrated in the church of Juan Carlos's accession met with relatively little parliamentary opposition.
The accident took place at 20.30 hours, after the Infante's return from the Maundy Thursday religious service, during which he had received Moments later, the assembled guests applauded, the prince's two daughters joined the royal group and the national anthem was played.Felipe will head to the lower house of the Spanish parliament on Thursday for the first royal transition the country has seen since democracy was restored after the death of Gen Francisco Franco in 1975.The ceremony at 10:30 local time will take the form of a proclamation rather than a coronation, in part because of the economic hardship that many Spaniards have experienced in recent years.Juan Carlos, who has been king for 39 years, formally brought his reign to an end in the Hall of Columns at the 18th Century royal palace, the same room in which Gen Franco's body lay in state in November 1975.Father and son both wore suits which bore the insignia of the order of the golden fleece, Spanish media reported.Felipe will face the dual challenge of trying to rehabilitate a monarchy that has been damaged by recent scandals and trying to unify a country in which a vocal minority favour republicanism, BBC correspondent Chris Morris reports from Madrid.Juan Carlos announced his decision to abdicate on 2 June, saying that a "new generation must be at the forefront... younger people with new energies".Although he was for many years a popular monarch, his reputation has taken a knock from a corruption investigation into the business dealings his daughter's husband and an lavish elephant hunting trip he took to Botswana in April 2012 in the midst of Spain's financial crisis,As Juan Carlos was Spain's first ruling monarch for 44 years, a new law of abdication had to be passed by both houses of parliament under the country's 1978 constitution.When Felipe is proclaimed king on Thursday, he will swear "faithfully to fulfil his duties, to safeguard the constitution and the laws, to respect the rights of citizens and {Spain's] autonomous regions".The future king lacks a political mandate for change, of course, and cannot undermine or second-guess Spain's democratically elected government, but he will want to exercise his right to be consulted, to encourage, and to warn.The most serious political challenge facing the new king will be that posed by the Catalan government's decision to hold a referendum on independence on 9 November 2014, which both the central government and the constitutional court deem illegal.The future king - who speaks Catalan and knows the region well - may be able to play a discreet role in helping political leaders find a constructive way out of a crisis that has been allowed to fester for too long.People coming to the UK from France, the Netherlands and several other countries must self-isolate for two weeks from 04:00 on Saturday. "Final de Partida" (La Esfera, 2015) a well documented and easy to read book by Ana Romero gives all the clues for this abdication.