Spain became a constitutional monarchy with the 1978 Constitution, after the death of Franco and the transition. The King is at the top of that tree, and first came Juan Carlos, who while criticised for his Francoist inheritance became mostly beloved of the people over the years, and lots of Spaniards quite happily described themselves as juancarlistas until about 10 years ago, in favour of Juan Carlos, as opposed to outright supporters of the monarchy.
It had worked, Spain had become a modern, European market economy and democracy after 40 years of dictatorship. He had a reputation as a bit of a lad, with lovers and boats and parties and hunting, but that’s what kings do, isn’t it? And look at all of that historical goodness he had brought to the nation in the meantime. A bit of a character, but everyone, after all, has their little vices. The corruption stories didn’t come until later.
Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Spain Report to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
