XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: the.big.zero@barackobama.com   
      
   MADRID — King Juan Carlos of Spain said Monday that he was   
   abdicating in favor of Crown Prince Felipe, his 46-year-old son,   
   explaining in an address to the nation that it was time for a   
   new generation to “move to the front line” and face the   
   country’s challenges.   
      
   The king’s abdication, after almost four decades on the throne,   
   follows health problems but also comes amid a decline in his   
   popularity, particularly as a result of a corruption scandal   
   centered on his son-in-law that has cast a harsh light on the   
   royal family’s lifestyle and finances at a time of economic   
   crisis and record joblessness in Spain.   
      
   Juan Carlos said he resolved to step down in January, when he   
   turned 76. He said that a generational change would open “a new   
   chapter of hope” and that his son “represents stability” for   
   Spain and the monarchy.   
      
   The king’s son, who will become King Felipe VI, is a former   
   Olympic yachtsman who studied international relations at   
   Georgetown University and is regarded as relatively untouched by   
   his family’s scandals. In May 2004, he married Letizia Ortiz, a   
   television journalist.   
      
   The abdication was first made official on Monday by Prime   
   Minister Mariano Rajoy, who called Juan Carlos a “tireless   
   defender of our interests.” The government is set to meet   
   Tuesday to discuss the legislative changes required for the   
   handover, which Mr. Rajoy said would happen soon. He called the   
   abdication “proof of the maturity of our democracy” — a message   
   echoed by most of Spain’s other party leaders. However, some far-   
   left politicians called instead for a referendum on whether to   
   maintain the monarchy, with anti-royal protests also convened in   
   Madrid and other cities on Monday evening.   
      
   Juan Carlos came to the throne in 1975, after the death of Gen.   
   Francisco Franco. The king was credited with playing a key role   
   in consolidating Spain’s return to democracy, alongside   
   politicians led by Adolfo Suárez, whom the king chose as prime   
   minister. Mr. Suárez died in March.   
      
   In February 1981, after rebel officers held lawmakers hostage at   
   gunpoint, the king helped abort their coup by ordering soldiers   
   to return to their barracks in a televised speech.   
      
   He had also been cast as providing stability amid separatist   
   drives in the Basque region and in Catalonia. Separatism has   
   recently gained momentum in Catalonia, whose politicians plan an   
   independence referendum in November that Mr. Rajoy has vowed to   
   prevent. King Juan Carlos has also defended Spain’s unity,   
   saying last December that the monarchy wanted a Spain “we can   
   all fit in.”   
      
   The king’s reputation has been tainted by questions about the   
   spending habits of his daughter, Princess Cristina, 48, and her   
   husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma, who is being   
   investigated in the embezzlement of millions from sports events.   
   The fall in the royal family’s public standing has encouraged   
   Spain’s news media to drop its traditional deference and delve   
   into the love life of the king and other previously taboo   
   subjects.   
      
   The king himself brought on more scrutiny in April 2012, after   
   falling during an elephant hunting trip to Africa and requiring   
   hip replacement surgery. Outrage over the trip forced him to   
   make a rare public apology.   
      
   Last year, the main Socialist opposition party took steps in   
   Parliament that for the first time formally requested   
   information about the king’s personal finances, after the   
   newspaper El Mundo revealed that he inherited money from his   
   father, hidden in a Swiss bank. The royal household eventually   
   said the Swiss money had been spent and the account long closed.   
      
   Carmen Enríquez, a writer and television journalist who   
   specializes in the royal family, said the recent scandals were   
   unlikely to have convinced the king to abdicate, but probably   
   added to “the sensation of fatigue” he felt.   
      
   She said Felipe would strive to bring “his own style of   
   leadership,” saying, “The abdication is not just a banal gesture   
   but does instead come with a broader indication of change.”   
      
   Queen Sofia, whom Juan Carlos married in 1962, will also hand   
   over as queen to Letizia, Felipe’s wife.   
      
   In its main editorial on Monday, the newspaper El País said that   
   “the fact that the change is taking place with complete   
   normality does not mean that Felipe inherits a completely normal   
   and stable situation, nor that the monarchy benefits now from   
   broad recognition.”   
      
   Santos Juliá, a historian and columnist, said that holding a   
   referendum on the monarchy would be “politically irresponsible”   
   and violate Spain’s Constitution, but called on the next king to   
   offer far greater transparency, particularly on royal finances.   
      
   Juan Carlos was born in Rome in 1938, during the Spanish   
   monarchy’s exile and in the midst of a civil war that was   
   followed by a long dictatorship under General Franco. Once in   
   power, Franco brought Juan Carlos back to Spain to oversee his   
   education at a military academy and then handpicked him as the   
   next king. The restoration plan was formalized in 1969 — raising   
   tensions between Juan Carlos and his exiled father, Juan de   
   Borbón.   
      
   José María de Areilza, a professor of law at the Esade school in   
   Madrid, said that despite being groomed by Franco, Juan Carlos   
   was able to make himself an engine of change in Spanish society.   
   That, he argued, “makes him an extraordinary man in   
   extraordinary circumstances.”   
      
   Correction: June 2, 2014   
   An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to a   
   writer and journalist who specializes in the Spanish royal   
   family. The writer, Carmen Enríquez, is a woman.   
      
   http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/world/europe/king-juan-carlos-   
   of-spain-to-abdicate-throne.html?_r=0   
      
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)