King Juan Carlos I of Spain to Step Down

King Juan Carlos I of Spain said on Monday that he will abdicate the throne to a “new generation” after reigning for almost 40 years.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy first announced the monarch’s decision.

The King, in a CNN translated statement, said it is “time to hand over to a new generation — younger, with a lot of energy — that can, with determination, take on and carry out the changes that the current situation demands, and to face with intensity and determination the challenges of tomorrow.”

He also said that he decided it was “time to prepare and pave the way so that he who is in better conditions can continue”, making Crown Prince Felipe, 46, to succeed his father.

Prince Felipe is “stable” and has “the maturity, the preparation, and the sense of responsibility necessary” to serve as king and “to lead to a new stage of hope using his experience and the drive of a new generation,” King Juan Carlos said.

“The long, deep economic crisis we are going through has left a lot of scars socially, but it has also pointed toward a future of hope,” the King said.

King Juan Carlos, 76, was held by Spaniards in high regard for his service to the nation and his defense of democracy after the death of the dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. But his popularity took a hit in 2012 after the controversial elephant-hunting trip in Africa amidst the deep economic crisis experienced by the nation.

Juan Carlos was born in Rome in 1938 but didn’t settle in Spain until he was 10. During Franco’s time, Carlos went under military training and became the first Spanish officer to hold the rank of lieutenant in all three branches of the military.

He was invested as crown prince in 1969 and the designated successor to Franco. On November 22, 1975 or two days after Franco’s death, Juan Carlos was proclaimed king of Spain.

Source: CNN