King Juan Carlos’s intention to abdicate, paving the way for his son Prince Felipe to succeed him, was announced on Monday morning by the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

A new constitutional amendment will reportedly be proposed to allow for the abdication.

King Juan Carlos I was born on January, 1938 in Rome. He moved to Spain in 1948 to be educated there. He began his studies in San Sebastian and finished them in 1954 at the San Isidro Institute in Madrid.

In Franco’s Spain, he carried out military training and became the first Spanish officer to hold the rank of lieutenant in all three branches of the military.

In 1969, Juan Carlos was invested as Crown Prince and the designated successor to Franco.

On November 22, 1975 — two days after Franco’s death — Juan Carlos was crowned King of Spain, restoring the monarchy after a 44-year interregnum.

In 1977, he enacted political reforms that led to Spain’s first post-Franco democratic elections. During his reign, Spain grew into an economic powerhouse and a vacation playground for Europe.

Personal life

Juan Carlos was married in Athens at the Church of Saint Dennis on 14 May 1962, to Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark, daughter of King Paul of Greece. She was Greek Orthodox but converted to Roman Catholicism in order to become Spain’s queen.

The couple has two daughters and one son, namely Infanta Elena María Isabel Dominica, Duchess of Lugo, Infanta Cristina Federica Victoria Antonia, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca and Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos, Prince of Asturias and heir apparent to the Spanish Throne.

Juan Carlos’s son and successor married in 2003 Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, an award-winning television journalist.