The Lower House of the Spanish Parliament today voted for the resignation of King Juan Carlos by a large majority, paving the way, despite calls for a referendum on the monarchy, to his son Crown Prince Felipe.

The voting analysis was 299 votes in favor, 19 against, 23 abstentions, with a bill approving the king’s resignation. The proportional vote in the Senate is scheduled for Tuesday, June 17th.

46 year old Felipe will be sworn in on June 19th before Parliament, after the Senate’s vote.

At the request of the United Left party (“Izquierda Unida”, IU), the deputies voted in turn, standing and by acclamation, after five amendments to the bill were rejected, which sought to hold a referendum on the monarchy’s future.

The right-wing Popular Party, which rules Spain, and the Socialist Party, which is the leading opposition force, voted in favor of the bill en masse, since an earlier statement by PM Mariano Rajoy defended “the monarchy as the best symbol of state unity”.

Despite overwhelming majority, opposing voices were indeed heard in Parliament, particularly those of IU and the ERC Catalan separatists, who rejected the bill, while CiU conservative Catalan nationalists and Basque PNV abstained.