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Spanish King Juan Carlos I celebrates his 70th birthday
By h.b. - Jan 6, 2008 - 12:47 PM
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King Juan Carlos in Berlin last year - Photo EFE
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Don Juan Carlos has spent 32 years of his life as the Head of State in Spain, and now is, perhaps, an ideal time to look back on his life
EDITORIAL COMMENT

King Juan Carlos I celebrated his 70th birthday quietly at home at the Zarzuela Palace on Saturday. An official birthday dinner party is to be given by the Royal Family on January 9.

The monarch has spent the last 32 years of his life as Spanish Head of State, and all indications are that he will rule for some time more. After what was a complicated year for him last year, now is perhaps a good time to look back over the past 70 years of his life.

The first son of Don Juan de Borbón y Battenberg and Doña María de las Mercedes de Borbón y Oreáns, Counts of Barcelona, was born in Rome on January 5 1938. When only three years old he became the heir to the Spanish throne with the abdication of his Grandfather, Alfonso X111.

Don Juan Carlos stood on Spanish soil for the first time on November 9 1948 when he moved to Madrid away from his family, after having spent his infancy in Italy, Switzerland and in Estoril in Portugal where the Counts of Barcelona had their residence in exile. He then started his academic training here under the eye of General Franco, and in 1955 stated his military career.

On March 29 1956 Juan Carlos accidentally killed his younger brother Alonso, three years his junior. It happened in a shooting accident at the family home in Estoril.

Juan Carlos married Princess Sofía of Greece on May 14 1962 in a ceremony held in Athens under both the Catholic and Orthodox rites. He had met his bride in London when attending the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Kent. After their honeymoon the couple started life in the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid.

The current heir to the Spanish throne, Prince Felipe, was born on January 30 1968. The couple had previously had a daughter, the Infanta Elena, who was born in December 20 1963, and Cristina, born on June 13 1965.

It was on July 22 1969 that Juan Carlos proclaimed to be successor to Franco. It was the dictator himself who proposed to the Spanish Parliament that he be succeeded as Head of State by the Juan Carlos who was from then known as the Prince of Spain. He started to attend official acts with Franco.

On November 22 1975 Juan Carlos I was proclaimed King of Spain, two days after the death of Franco. In his acceptance speech he said he wanted to be King of all the Spanish people.

The first democratic elections were held in Spain on June 15 1977. A year before the King had chosen Adolfo Suárez as the President of the Government, to replace Carlos Arias Navarro.
Those first elections were won by the UDC, lead by Suárez. The Royal Family had no vote, to ensure the monarchy was separate from the political parties.

The Spanish Constitution was approved on December 6 1978 via a referendum. The document formally established the parliamentary monarchy as the system of government in Spain.

Those who doubted the leadership of the King were have those doubts erased on February 23 1981 when there was an attempted military coup in Spain. The intervention of the King was decisive is stopping the coup attempt, carried out by a group of military chiefs led by Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero. At 1am on the morning of February 24, the King addressed the nation on television in defence of the Spanish Constitution, and from then on the coup was considered to have failed.

Prince Felipe, the heir to the throne, married the television journalist Doña Letizia on May 22 2004 in a ceremony in Madrid.
It followed the earlier marriage of the Infanta Elena to Jaime de Marichalar in Sevilla in 1995, a marriage which failed last year. The Infanta Cristina also married sportsman Iñaki Urdangarín in Barcelona in October 1977.

Last year saw the Spanish monarchy suffer the first real criticism of it in the country’s media. Catalan Nationalist protestors burned photos of the King in the streets of Girona, and a visit to the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in north Africa upset the Moroccan Government.

But Don Juan Carlos’ humanity was there for the whole world to see on November 10 when he lashed out at the President of Hugo Chávez of Venezuela at the Ibero-American summit being held in Chile. The famous words – ‘Porque no te callas – Why don’t you shut up’ as the King lost his cool were supported and understood by the public around the world.

There had been talk of the King earlier thinking about abdicating at the age of 70, but that now looks unlikely. The Monarch remains an active and positive figurehead for Spain, and we wish him congratulations and all the very best.


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