Juan Carlos I

Juan Carlos I the last King of Spain reigned from 1975 until his abdication in 2014 Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y BorbónDos Sicilias was born on January 5 1938 in Rome Lazio Italy during his familys exile Expected to continue Francos legacy Juan Carlos however soon after his accession introduced reforms to dismantle the Francoist regime and begin the Spanish transition to democracy This led to the approval of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 in a referendum which reestablished a constitutional monarchy In 1981 Juan Carlos played a major role in preventing a coup that attempted to revert Spain to Francoist government in the Kings name In 2008 he was considered the most popular leader in all IberoAmerica