Spanish king abdicates

[Syt]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27662301

King Juan Carlos of Spain abdicating

King Juan Carlos of Spain has decided to abdicate, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has announced.

King Juan Carlos, who is 76, has ruled since 1975. His son Prince Felipe, 45, will take over the throne.

For much of his reign, Juan Carlos was seen as one of the world's most popular monarchs.

But recently many Spaniards have lost confidence in him, mainly because of a long-running corruption investigation into his daughter and her husband.

[Brazen]

Two European monarchs in just over a year. Prince Charles must be rubbing his hands together.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/10584478/Betting-suspended-on-Queen-stepping-down.html

[Viking]

He's had a good innings. Kudos to him for bringing Democracy to Spain after Franco hoped he'd continue his (Franco's) legacy.

[jimmy olsen]

The greatest king of the 20th century.

[Tonitrus]

The greatest king of the 20th century.

[Siege]

He meant real king.

[Ed Anger]

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Two European monarchs in just over a year. Prince Charles must be rubbing his hands together.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/10584478/Betting-suspended-on-Queen-stepping-down.html

3 actually:

Albert of (non-state) Belgium,
Beatrix of the (still not re-) United Kingdom of the Netherlands
and now Carlos.

[Viking]

Harald of Norway is 77...

though I'm sure Martinus and his ilk will squee at the present Crown Prince

[Zanza]

Albert of (non-state) Belgium,
Beatrix of the (still not re-) United Kingdom of the Netherlands
and now Carlos.

If you want to refer to useless titles, Juan Carlos can easily outdo the other two. He has titles like King of Jerusalem or Two Sicilies, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy or King of the East and West Indies...

[derspiess]

[Valmy]

Really?  Huh.  I thought when he became King of Spain they dumped all the artifact titles.  I mean...Duke of Milan?  Is Milan aware it has a Duke?

[Syt]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_titles_and_honours_of_Juan_Carlos_I_of_Spain

Titles in official use

The Spanish titles of Juan Carlos I as Monarch of Spain are as follows: Note: Titles in Pretence marked with * are historical titles which are only nominal and ceremonial.

    King of Spain
    King of Castile, of León, of Aragon, of the Two Sicilies* (Naples and Sicily), of Jerusalem*, of Navarre, of Granada, of Toledo, of Valencia, of Galicia, of Majorca, of Seville, of Sardinia*, of Córdoba, of Corsica*, of Murcia, of Menorca, of Jaén, of the Algarves*, of Algeciras, of the Canary Islands, of the East Indies* and West Indies* and of the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea*;
    Archduke of Austria*;
    Duke of Burgundy*, of Brabant*, of Milan*, of Athens*, of Neopatras* (New Patras) and of Limburg*;
    Count of Habsburg*, of Flanders*, of Tyrol*, of Roussillon* and of Barcelona;
    Lord of Biscay and of Molina

[celedhring]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_titles_and_honours_of_Juan_Carlos_I_of_Spain

Titles in official use

The Spanish titles of Juan Carlos I as Monarch of Spain are as follows: Note: Titles in Pretence marked with * are historical titles which are only nominal and ceremonial.

    King of Spain
    King of Castile, of León, of Aragon, of the Two Sicilies* (Naples and Sicily), of Jerusalem*, of Navarre, of Granada, of Toledo, of Valencia, of Galicia, of Majorca, of Seville, of Sardinia*, of Córdoba, of Corsica*, of Murcia, of Menorca, of Jaén, of the Algarves*, of Algeciras, of the Canary Islands, of the East Indies* and West Indies* and of the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea*;
    Archduke of Austria*;
    Duke of Burgundy*, of Brabant*, of Milan*, of Athens*, of Neopatras* (New Patras) and of Limburg*;
    Count of Habsburg*, of Flanders*, of Tyrol*, of Roussillon* and of Barcelona;
    Lord of Biscay and of Molina

Man, all those unpressed claims... 

It was bound to happen, the Spanish monarchy is at an all time low level of popularity with all the scandals surrounding it - and the general crisis in the country - plus he's in very bad health. So better pass it to somebody younger and more energetic that can rebuild the institution.

The Republican parties are already calling for a referendum before the Prince is sworn in, and there's a few demos in our cities. I'm a Republican myself, but given our monarchy is mostly ceremonial I don't give that much of a damn.

[Valmy]

Are the Habsburg pretenders aware this Bourbon is claiming to be Archduke of Austria in pretense?  There can only be one wannabe Archduke!