Juan Carlos: The Rise & Fall Of Spain's Scandalous King | From Francoism To Democracy | Real Royalty

this channel is part of the history hit Network [Music] and when I took oath some 40 years ago I vowed to serve the interests of Spain today when I look back I can feel the only pride and gratitude towards you now is the time to allow a younger generation to step up to the front line the farewell of a king often tastes bitter in a country exhausted by the crises where scandals have tarnished the popularity of the crown Juan Carlos of Spain abdicated [Music] few Kings have done as much for their people few Kings have led them to democracy [Music] [Applause] thank you Juan Carlos is not fond of grand speeches but before giving up his crown he accepted to tell us about himself [Music] for a long time he remained in the shadows and many considered him as an insignificant heir but every time the future of his country was at stake he displayed unsuspected courage and tact his Reign which no one had predicted is nevertheless one of the most beautiful chapters in the history of Spain that of its Renaissance foreign [Music] [Applause] on a cold November morning the lusitanian express crossed the Spanish border this train swiftly heading to Madrid was transporting a child toward his destiny the Little Traveler contemplated the Landscapes that passed before his eyes they had often been described to him but he was seeing them for the first time this passenger out of the ordinary was born a prince on his young shoulders already bore the hopes of a whole Dynasty he was only 10 years old foreign no one was more afraid than I was [Music] to find myself surrounded by all those old men it all seems so [Music] 18 years earlier his grandfather King Alfonso the 13th took another train fleeing a kingdom in which Republicans had just won the elections the Spanish royal family had condemned itself to Exile while waiting for Better Days history hit is a streaming platform that is just for history fans with fantastic documentaries covering fascinating figures and moments in history from all over the world we've got unrivaled access to the world's leading historians with hundreds of documentaries featuring everything from Boudicca to the British royal family we're committed to Bringing history fans award-winning documentaries and podcasts as you cannot find anywhere else sign up now for a free trial and a real royalty fans get 50 off their first three months just be sure to use code real royalty at checkout [Music] even if I was born abroad my parents spoke to me of Spain as did my grandparents Define oneself in one's own country for the first time is a very strong sensation at the time I spoke Spanish of course but with a French accent in short it was a big change Juan Carlos did not yet know what was awaiting him in the land of his ancestors the Republic that had chased away his grandfather had been struck down by a military coup carried out by General Franco in 1936. the country then engaged in a bloody Civil War had left 500 000 dead and forced another 500 000 into exile Victorious General Franco reigned unchallenged over his country with the support of the omnipotent Army and the complicity of the church and without the bourbon who had occupied the throne for several centuries he who wants the throne let him make it in cardboard the crown of Spain belongs to Noble was a refrain that could be heard in songs on the streets of Madrid at the time at that age I wasn't thinking about being a prince or anything else I thought about having fun like a child like any other 10 year old child I didn't care about politics Juan Carlos was unaware that his presence on Spanish soil was the fruit of negotiations led by two men who would play a decisive role in his life his father Don Juan de bourbon was the legitimate heir to the crown by settling his son in Spain he was seeking to clear a pathway toward the throne as for General Franco he hoped that in welcoming an inoffensive bourbon he would restore the image of a dictatorship that had been discredited on the international scene between these two opponents The Little Prince was but a pawn Franco and Don Juan came to an agreement on one thing namely the prince should receive in Spain an education worthy of his rank for me entirely organized around me we were eight kids [Music] on Saturdays and Sundays their families would come to visit them whereas I was all alone [Music] his father left him with one rule only when you meet Franco listen closely but speak as little as possible in a mouth that is shut flies cannot enter I was really very impressed I was going to meet a head of state Franco received me with a lot of affection but I was merely a child so naturally I was easily distracted by everything around me in his office I remember once I spotted a mouse rolling around just like that I kept my eyes glued on it finally the general said what are you looking at and I answered but General there is a mouse [Music] hostage of the man who was preventing his father from reigning the little Juan Carlos could escape from his new tutor only during vacation he would then rejoin his family at Estoril in Portugal on the one hand there was Franco on the other my father I was like a ping pong when all went well between them I studied in Spain when things were not so good I would return to Portugal but one gets used to it since it had to be like that that is the way it was [Music] the age of 17 Juan Carlos the prestigious Spanish military academy like his father and his grandfather before him it was in the army that he would first learn the vocation of a king refusing favors due to his social rank he chose to live the life of any other trainee foreign that was the first time that I rubbed shoulders with Spanish Society with people from all over Spain with very different ideas and mentalities I made friends with many of them being around them feeling close to them that helped me enormously later on it was revealed to be important um but history confirms that [Music] is suddenly in 1956 a terrible tragedy struck the royal family Alfonso the younger brother of Juan Carlos died in an accident while on vacation during the Holy Week the two teenagers were manipulating a firearm I miss him a lot not having him at my side not being able to talk with him foreign we were very close we liked one another a lot he was a lovable boy [Music] to protect the royal family from a potential Scandal Don Juan and Franco set up a barricade no investigation would be allowed to establish the specific circumstances of the accident an official statement closed the case for good while the child Alfonso was cleaning a handgun in the presence of his brother a shot went off that struck his forehead and killed him in a few minutes two days after the funeral Juan Carlos went back along the Route his father had set for him no time for mourning or tears in times like that one thinks only of keeping in line I had no time to think of anything else [Music] brother put an end to his days of Innocence the young man who returned to Madrid was more than ever hardened and prepared to face the trials that awaited him foreign by since Juan Carlos arrived in Spain his military training was finished but the re-establishment of the monarchy was still not the order of the day the Throne of Spain seemed as inaccessible as ever nothing had changed [Music] order discipline Spanish Society lived under a reign of Silence year after year the country fell further into the quicksand of shortages censorship and ignorance El Mundo in Spanish foreign get them companies Juan Carlos had turned 20 and went to the University of Madrid in daily contact with students he discovered another Spain the Spain of anti-franco activists it was important because that is where I saw that there were people for and people against they were naturally more demonstrative than I was I just couldn't believe I tried not to take sides against the ones and for the others I tried not to be controversial to convince them to dialogue I would say okay you think this way I think that way but that should not prevent us from being friends [Music] Juan Carlos still did not know what was expected from him on the one hand he was assigned a progressive tutor a specialist in constitutional law torquato Fernandez Miranda on the other hand he was kept under strict surveillance let's just say that the police always had my back every day so it became somewhat bothersome but when I left my car to Portugal the police escorted me to the Border I would say goodbye to them and I was finally free advantage of he had come of age the descendant of the Spanish bourbon was a highly coveted Bachelor [Music] foreign [Music] but a Crown Prince must start thinking about marriage finding a spouse of his rank the continuing existence of the dynasty depended on it his heart's desire he already knew who she was he had met her on a cruise and saw her whenever festivities brought together Europe's royalty she was the eldest daughter of the king of Greece Sophie we all got together at weddings baptisms and funerals at the end of the summer 1961 Juan Carlos made his move but instead of the traditional will you marry me while the two royal families were United around the table he threw a small box to her containing a ring the prince's informal Behavior surprised everybody Sophie was conquered [Music] [Applause] a wedding straight out of a fairy tale moved the city of Athens and the whole of Europe's High Society for two consecutive days festivities dinners and balls following one another at a frenetic Pace before the union was celebrated in luxury 150 members of the most illustrious royal families rushed to be there hundreds of Spaniards made the trip over to take part in this happy event [Music] quinovino is the bride and groom exchanged their vows in their respective languages in a Catholic Church then they went to an Orthodox Cathedral is [Music] foreign [Music] ERS of the past the wedding even offered Juan Carlos his very first ovation [Music] it's for Sophie she left behind her family her religion and her social rank to follow a prince charming with an uncertain future foreign counted on profiting from the marriage of his son to reaffirm his status as heir to the crown in vain something had shifted from that moment on it was no longer he who dictated decisions for the first time Juan Carlos seized the Reigns of his Destiny he could settle in Portugal near his family then patiently await his turn while leading the leisurely life of an inuitant in Exile but he chose to return to Madrid it was the price to pay for the monarchy to have a chance to again see the light of day in Spain all the more so because Franco had let him understand that if there were to be a king one day it would be him and not his father [Music] I think Franco thought that it would be better to have the son than the father perhaps because my father would not have been accepted by the powers behind the regime [Music] hunting lodge situated at a stone's throw away from the caudillos residence [Music] uela became their gilded prison a monotonous life brightened up only by births and baptisms Franco regularly imposed himself to be included in family photos but said not a word about the return of the Bourbons to the throne quantarlos was condemned to wait I remember saying to Franco one day all right I came to live in Spain but when it comes down to it what do you expect from me really you are he replied here you have Spain do what it takes to get the Spaniards to know who you are [Music] a word to the wise [Music] it's cautious not to give his movements the slightest official character but it was an occasion for the Young Prince to discover a country he knew so little about so we began to crisscross Spain all of its provinces all of its villages [Music] I believe there is not a single Village I do not know [Music] Bane was met with indifference after 30 years of anti-monicus propaganda the presence of a bourbon was barely even a curiosity Juan Carlos then understood that in his March to the throne he could not count on the support of the people his future depended on the good graces of Franco whose intentions were more than ever impenetrable [Music] I tried simply to be natural to be myself [Music] Franco did not have a son between the two men a close Bond was established almost an emotional one [Music] he was someone who spoke very little with me he talked he laughed and commented on things with other people he spoke very little you might say he was hard to read [Music] why did Franco take so long to appoint me that is a million dollar question [Laughter] honestly I have no idea after years of patience Juan Carlos grew used to living on promises and when the long-awaited news finally came he was surprised one day he told me I want to make you my Heir with his title King do you accept just like that when I thought that I was going to be king it was not when I was 10 15 or 18. it was when Franco designated me as his Heir Franco that is when I told myself this is getting serious foreign Carlos was finally tied to the intentions of his protector one day he would succeed the dictator but first he would have to swear his Fidelity to the principles of the regime to bond by solemn oath the bourbon of Spain to francoism foreign just generally cities no it was not easy if I hadn't accepted the proposal to become heir to the throne how would I be here and how could I have done what I did yeah with the Spaniards the politicians with everybody the change we brought about we could never have done that foreign at the age of 31 Juan Carlos emerged abruptly from the Shadows but appeared at the same time as a pillar of the regime is foreign [Music] still had little consistence in reality he had no power what is more the nomination produced painful consequences his father would not forgive him for having passed him by nor for having Associated the crown with francoism the dynastic Unity was shattered for the first time communication between Father and Son was broken foreign [Music] displaying the portrait of the grandfather shows that Franco did not stop at definitively ousting Don Juan Alfonso the 13th was the last king of Spain to have reigned but he was also the one who had sealed in his time an alliance between the monarchy and the dictatorship of former prime minister Primo de Rivera [Music] at nearly 80 the health of the old dictator was beginning to fail foreign the question of post Franco was of great interest to America in the midst of the Cold War Franco's regime appeared to them as the best defense against communism so it was with Keen interest that Richard Nixon met the newly appointed successor to sound out his intentions the American president convoked the heir of Spain to come to the United States in 1970 Juan Carlos made his entrance on the international scene [Music] foreign [Music] had not yet disclosed a thing about his projects but already world leaders discovered a modern and open young man a different face of Spain [Music] I knew more or less what I wanted I thought that Spain needed another regime but it had to do something completely different we would see about that later [Music] [Music] on a trip during a lunch so-called off the record I had spoken of opening up Spain and its democratization he and upon my return Franco told me your highness there are things that one can say abroad that one does not say here and things that must be said here but not abroad [Music] a curious tandem The Prince and the dictator made when we spoke of politics I would tell him my general you must loosen up a bit and he would respond no that is up to you I can't I can't change foreign in the early 1970s the Spanish dictatorship appeared to be totally anachronistic The Divide between the regime and the reality of the country had become obvious because despite its isolation Spain had changed it had built itself infrastructures it had modernized its economy this mutation led to the emergence of a middle class that was active enlightened and yearning for freedom democratica the explosion did the rest it's welcomed me foreign vacationers is bikini foreign ERS spread far more than fashion they introduced a new model of society [Music] transformation of Spain appeared to be inevitable but Franco intended upon opposing it up until his last breath wasting away an illness in June 1973 he chose to confide the Reigns of power to Admiral Carrero Blanco his most faithful collaborator foreign successor but that it would never happen because the regime was too strong even in the event of Franco's death there would be others to carry on Franco questions [Music] [Music] since the early 1960s ETA The Basque separatist organization had made the fight against francoism its principal battle with its assassination of Carrero Blanco it demonstrated its power [Music] 100 000 people attended the funeral of the head of the government despite heavy police presence the regime feared a new attack nevertheless Juan Carlos decided to lead the procession for a moment it was a period when the ETA was killing a lot of people a lot of military personnel and civilians and I had to show that at that moment I was there so I put myself up front in uniform they would feel reformed that is how it was not be rewarded Juan Carlos was not even consulted on the choice of the new head of state for as the health of the caudillo declined it was his wife Carmen Polo who pulled the strings she had her right-hand man appointed Arias Navarro Franco [Applause] on the 4th of July 1974 the dictator was hospitalized in critical condition Buddies information immortal records is [Music] maneuvering of Polo and the regime's hardliners could not do a thing with Franco hospitalized it was up to Juan Carlos to assume control of the interim there were foreign heads of state who said don't return the power to him not to Franco it was handed to you keep it my response was well if he dies I'll become head of state and if he doesn't if he recuperates I will return the power to him Franco called me and said I'm taking back all my Powers so I said that sounds good to me Franco was granted a reprieve while the propaganda machine broadcast reassuring images of the old father protector francoism carried out its Dirty Works [Music] Alonso [Music] Jose Luis Sanchez in the Autumn of 1975 the death penalty for political prisoners was upsetting the international opinion demonstrations were organized throughout Europe 15 governments immediately recalled their ambassadors negotiations regarding Spain's entry into the common market were suspended Pope Paul VI with the Spanish Church on his side called for clemency but Franco would not budge [Music] [Applause] I don't know [Music] at the time the regime was taking a hard line and that worried me for Spain's image abroad the vision of our country one could have from the exterior since I was Franco's Heir it is [Music] tormented the regime celebrated the 39th anniversary of Franco's Ascension to power with great pomp in front of the cheering crowd the daughtering old dictator showed himself more radical than ever [Applause] foreign [Applause] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] no it was not easy no but I told myself all of these people will have to be made to change their minds and they are numerous [Music] [Applause] that Juan Carlos appeared publicly at the dictator's side [Music] [Applause] [Music] strange climate struck the country in spite of the cold long lines formed in silence to pay final respects to the caudio [Music] hoped for by many feared by the others the death of Franco inaugurated for all Spanish people an era of uncertainty [Music] on the eve of his death Franco took my hand in his room and said the only thing I ask of you is that you preserve the unity of Spain and if one thinks about it [Music] that means a lot of things he did not tell me to do this and to do that the unity of Spain is all he wanted [Music] the Spanish people would discover his political will on television foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Juan Carlos measured the weight of the Heritage that was now upon his shoulders and the scope of what he would have to accomplish [Music] foreign I knew we had to make a democracy we would see about that [Music] to receive his crown in front of the regime's potentates for the occasion the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet invited himself addicted to their privileges Franco's collaborators were wary of the intentions of the caudillos appointed successor they could come and offer me the crown on a cushion or they could just as easily send the Civil guard with orders to arrest me the novice King confided to a friend [Applause] [Music] I hadn't slept that made sense seeing that I was preoccupied with my first speech in this very important ceremony which was truly my baptism of Fire in this Tauranga is one must take into account those who were present at the swearing-in namely Franco's parliamentarians in his Royal councils [Applause] [Music] for the Solemn Mass Juan Carlos discretely rid himself of General Pinochet giving preference to more honorable guests French president Valerie German president the Duke of Edinburgh or Nelson Rockefeller the vice president of the United States Juan Carlos spoke little of his political agenda surprisingly it was Cardinal tarancon who hoped and prayed for a reign of Justice fraternity and Reconciliation thank you for helping me you were saying what I'm going to do what I'm thinking to do that was a great show of support you could say it publicly and that is what he did it was very courageous of him it was very important that he said this in front of the foreign heads of state I felt I did not feel alone [Music] [Applause] [Music] yeah one major guest was missing that day the father of Juan Carlos Don Juan always considered himself the legitimate heir to the crown of Spain so he preferred following from afar his son's rise instead of his own to the throne he had coveted for such a long time [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] where's now stop you know stop okay no problems [Music] yes it cost him of course that's normal it's human but he called to congratulate me well all that one can do when one is far away I think he kept it to himself as we say in Spain one must know how to suffer without showing it [Music] at 37 years old Juan Carlos had become the youngest head of state in Europe he had at his disposition the immense powers of Franco but everything was waiting to be done yes I was carrying an enormous burden on my shoulders toward the past as well as toward the future in a way the Spanish people did not know what to think about me the unknown for Juan Carlos was to govern a country with no other political experience than 40 Years of dictatorship with a people tormented by the memory of a traumatizing Civil War the King was alone Espana [Music] when the Spaniards started demonstrating they called for change but also for roads hospitals and higher salaries we had never seen that because it was forbidden once authorized people demonstrated four others against there were those who agreed and those who didn't [Applause] instead of answering to the impatience in the streets the King played the card of continuity he confirmed Arias Navarro in his functions as the head of the government I thought it was good to maintain a Francois president so that there would be no real rupture so that there would be change and that included tolerating things a bit difficult a true guard dog of the regime Arias Navarro was prone to Total immobility but this token given to the francoists allowed Juan Carlos to name a progressive to the head of parliament an old friend of his torquato Fernandez Miranda his former professor of law he was the one who would allow the king to transform in complete legality the regime he had sworn oath to the formula of this constitutionalist has remained famous go from the law to the law by way of the law yes I was rather worried but he said it was no problem no problem from the law to the law all of a sudden I moved forward more relaxed impatience soon gave way to exasperation students rebelled all of those the dictatorship had reduced to silence came to defy those in power facing the anger of the population the government's response was merciless foreign spiral of repeated strikes demonstrations that got out of hand attacks the hardliners of francoism mobilized and resuscitated ghosts of the past thank you [Applause] in Victoria a city in Basque Country Spain fell headlong into tragedy the police killed five Strikers and wounded another 150. General indignation the population lost its patience [Music] the decreasing popularity of the government started to reflect upon the king foreign Carlos went to meet his people to save what could still be saved [Applause] [Music] I felt a lot of support during those trips and that lent me more strength to continue the people hung on to an idea that seemed useful to them that could be beneficial to them [Applause] [Music] is a language forbidden under Franco but still no word of the major change that a part of Spain was awaiting is de Franco is foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] speech would not be delivered in Spain for this historic declaration Juan Carlos chose another Tribune on the 2nd of June 1976 in front of the American Congress he solemnly promised his people the coming of democracy the ground protects the whole people and each and every one of its citizens guaranteeing through the laws and by the exercise of civil liberties the rule of Justice [Music] in the same movement Juan Carlos publicly disavowed the leader of his government there is a newsweeks is foreign Juan Carlos again took the opposite view of his observers he designated a politician of the second row to succeed Navarro Adolfo Suarez amongst his allies as well as his adversaries this was seen as a serious mistake of judgment on the international scene there was a general outcry I knew that the Press would kill me and that everybody would be against me pero but I also knew that this is what had to be done I knew him when he was director general of State TV under Franco and I really liked his manner of being of speaking as the man he was in fact a little foreign Juan Carlos had pulled off a masterful move Suarez had indeed learned his trade in the political Machinery of francoism but he belonged to another generation than the old men who had been in power for 40 years this agenda was that of the king and to bring it about the two men knew that they would be confronted with the immobility of the powerful francoist institutions production [Music] S no no come on to political [Music] democracy was merely a discourse had been playing with time then he decided to drive past everybody in three months Suarez tried to convince one by one all parliamentarians that francoism could not Outlast its founder he could count on Fernandez Miranda to act as intermediary it was a matter of making the deputies vote for a law that aimed quite simply at putting an end to the regime of Franco Juan Carlo put all of his credibility on the line in the historic vote [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] ly grateful to him [Music] Coast General courts could have blocked the process but they didn't I think they became aware of what Spain had been and what it was going to become on the 15th of December 1976 the Spanish ratified this by referendum with 94 of the votes francoism was liquidated the opening measures were taken at a frenetic Pace labor union Liberties partial amnesties dissolution of the Francois party recognition of regional identities [Music] foreign [Music] nevertheless the transition to democracy was having a hard time in Madrid where the Spanish Socialist Party was holding its Congress after 40 Years of Exile what was wanted was not a parliamentary monarchy but a republic [Music] America is Republica through tactan conviction Suarez managed to persuade the leaders of the left that only the monarchy could guarantee the democratic transition because only the King was in a position to contain an ultra-conservative army that could shatter with one blow all the work that had been accomplished [Music] foreign the Army watched over the political transition closely until then it followed the king but it had a line that was not to be crossed there was no question of authorizing the return of the Communist party or its Chief in Exile the Red Devil Santiago Carrillo foreign [Music] I thought there could be no democracy without the Communist party there was no other choice we had to get through that [Music] were there people against of course in the barracks military personnel was unhappy there were meetings at that moment one had to navigate without a compass oh in January 1977 a trial of strength with the Army did not seem wise a new wave of violence had struck the country on the extreme right small groups made their moves intimidations attacks assassinations in answer to this campaign of Terror the extreme left just as deadly wanted to bring down the emerging parliamentary monarchy [Music] thank you the violence reached its height on the 24th of January a group of neo-fascists assassinated five communist lawyers in the very center of Madrid Spain held its breath the Army could declare a state of emergency and the Communists attempted to make a run for power and yet at a time that seemed to call for Prudence to calm things down Juan Carlos decided to legalize the Communist party all of a sudden initiating a plan that had been elaborated years earlier when Franco was still alive in the Autumn of 1971 during the celebration of the 2500 years of the Persian Empire organized by the Shah of Iran Juan Carlos had approached the head of communist Romania with his help as intermediary he knew he could communicate with the leader of the Spanish Communist Party was there and I had a discussion with him I wanted him to tell Santiago Carrillo that I was going to legalize the Communist Party but that it was I who would choose how and when [Music] he accepted and that was a big help oh accepted the national flag he accepted the monarchy yet he was not a monarchist he told me I regret having called you Juan Carlos the brief because I was wrong thank God I was wrong foreign [Music] on a Holy Friday the most sacred day in Spain the Spanish Communist party was legalized [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] foreign the previous ones had been held in 1936. on the 15th of June 1977 the Spaniards headed towards the ballot boxes to vote finally for many among them it was the first time the popular will consecrated the emergence of the Socialist Party behind the center-right party of Adolfo Suarez who again became head of the government Juan Carlos had won his wager Spain had finally become a democracy foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] but this Victory would have been bitter had it not been shared with the man who had transmitted these values and this ambition to him having overcome his resentment Don Juan came to make his contribution from that day forward he would call his son Majesty [Music] foreign not having accorded more importance to this act today I would have done it differently I would have put more emphasis on it more importance because the person who renounces his right and says now it's up to you as the heir that's very important very important foreign [Music] foreign [Music] who sacrificed his person that is where his grander lies all he said was I leave everything to you [Music] foreign on the 22nd of July 1977 Juan Carlos was at the parliament to open a session that would give Spain a new constitution but the welcome he received was divided the Socialist deputies refused to applaud him one must remember that I still had all of Franco's powers they adorable historic Association questions [Music] I felt very good I told myself all political parties on the right is on the left together we're going to do that foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] people like power and all that is I gave up my Powers with a lot of relief on the 6th of December 1978 the new constitution was massively approved by referendum [Music] fundamental [Applause] my hand was nearly shaking it was such an important moment for the country for Spain we signed the Constitution you see I always keep it here in front of me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] leaving politics to elected officials Juan Carlos could devote his time to the discrete role he had chosen for himself the Democracy seems so well founded but on the 23rd of February 1981 at the parliament a special session that brought together deputies and members of the government turned into a nightmare 180 armed soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel tejero took those present as hostages in Valencia tanks were in the streets but there was even worse the purchase declared that they were acting on behalf of the king it was a total shock I didn't expect the coup d'etat that is precisely what it was a political coup but the puchists wanted to keep the king and change the government [Music] there the Parliament building anything could have happened foreign Juan Carlos called the heads of the army one by one a trial of conviction and Authority what helped me enormously then were the four years I spent at the military academy to have friends among them helped me a lot [Music] hours went by and the Spanish people still had no news from the King Juan Carlos had to take the floor and speak quickly but the television was in the hands of the insurgents [Music] it took time and people were worried but for the anecdote the head of the troops that controlled the network was a close friend to the head of the royal house he too came from the Cavalry so they spoke together and the latter said what is this stupid act all about let the cameras go and the other replied yes sir at your orders General I recorded two speeches that went to the TV by different routes I had no idea what could happen outside [Music] La Corona symbol of actions referendum people turned off their TV sets and went to bed thinking that the danger was over [Music] and the next day it was finished yes the night was rather long after 18 hours of Anguish the parliamentarians were finally released and the tanks returned to their base is fundamental [Music] to three million people marched throughout the country Juan Carlos had just truly won his crown [Music] [Applause] [Music] in the elections of 1982 the Socialists of Felipe Gonzalez came out on top this change of power stood not merely for the victory of the opposition party it was perceived as a real Triumph of democracy [Music] [Music] de Picasso de Picasso Lois France [Music] foreign [Music] Spain's Renaissance was accompanied by a new economic Vitality after having been held apart from the European Community Spain was finally admitted on the 1st of January 1986. [Music] in 1992 the country became the center of the world the Summer Olympic Games were held in Barcelona I remember my son was a flag bearer and after that the tears of my daughter Helen that remained famous on television [Music] and then Spain won its highest number of medals at these games [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is Juan Carlos became the ambassador of this triumphant Spain during the 20 years that had gone by since his accession to power he made Latin America his favorite destination Argentina Chile Cuba Venezuela Mexico Colombia before him no Spanish Sovereign had crossed the Atlantic he was called El Rey the king with Latin America Spain is itself much larger Espana but all but when I'm called a latino-american king I'm a Spanish King who likes Latin America a lot America [Music] but in the success story of Spain a shadow remains a shadow of terrorism the blind violence of which kept the country in mourning nevertheless the ETA did not have the better of national unity in the face of repeated attacks a whole people stood up to the Cry of bastaya [Music] [Applause] [Music] my worst Memories the worst moments there are so many but to answer you in all sincerity I would say that I had 800 bad moments the more than 800 victims of terrorism [Music] and I feel very close to them [Music] thank you foreign 1993 Don Juan passed away the decease of the King's father raised throughout Europe a wave of unexpected condolences Juan Carlos gave him a King's funeral my father had a Royal Funeral as far as I'm concerned he had been King [Music] reference [Music] the departure of the father sounds the hour of the prince Heir apparently ahead of a child he had in the face of a man he has now [Music] for a father this moment is moving but for a king even more Constitution [Applause] [Music] [Applause] his childhood was very different from mine because he lived in his country in one stable place he was born in a palace in that sense yes his life was much different than mine [Music] I always maintain their relationship with him my daughter's married I left the house but he stayed very close I often lunch with him we talk we talk a lot he got his master's degree he studied I couldn't maybe I have other qualities who knows hahaha [Music] for Juan Carlos this succession to the throne was a new phase that he prepared with care the country was on a brutal decline in 2009 the economic crisis hit Spain one youth out of two was unemployed people were less tolerant of the royal lifestyle that was out of touch with the difficulties of the Spanish people the indictment of the king's son-in-law ended up staining the crown misuse of public funds fiscal fraud Infante Christina the King's Daughter was also prosecuted the Press began to take an interest in the king's Fortune to reveal his infidelities after three decades of a shining rain these scandals were the ultimate trial for the old Monarch whose Health had become more and more fragile foreign on the 2nd of June 2014 Juan Carlos took Spain by surprise While others hang on desperately to their power he chose to give up his place the king abdicated in favor of his son Espana [Applause] Felipe VI is Young he is brilliant he is popular he knows that the challenges facing Spain are no smaller than those which his father had to overcome but he learned from him that a king is nothing if he does nothing for his country in Spanish foreign [Applause] thank you [Music]

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Length: 88min 32sec (5312 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 08 2023