--- description: King Juan Carlos' decision follows years of criticism for his lavish lifestyle and an investigation into his son-in-law's alleged corruption title: Spain's King Will Abdicate, Prime Minister Declares image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9f8f60f0c38cf88/698695c3cd804d34b6ccb43a/spanish-king-juan-carlos.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [europe](/tag/europe/) ## europe Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # King of Spain Will Abdicate, Prime Minister Declares by [Per Liljas](/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 2, 2014 9:34 AM CUT  Spain's King Juan Carlos leaves after the official opening of the Parliament, in Madrid on Dec. 27, 2011. Spain's King Juan Carlos leaves after the official opening of the Parliament, in Madrid on Dec. 27, 2011.Daniel Ochoa de Olza—AP by [Per Liljas](/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 2, 2014 9:34 AM CUT Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has [announced](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/spanish-pm-king-juan-carlos-plans-abdicate-crown-prince-felipe-become-next-king "undefined") that King Juan Carlos I will abdicate. The 76-year-old monarch has seen his popularity [wane](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27662301 "undefined") in recent years, following an [investigation](http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2013/04/europes-royal-families#sthash.cWJshaIn.dpbs "undefined") into his son-in-law’s alleged corruption and a storm of criticism for the King’s high-flying lifestyle. Calls for Juan Carlos’ abdication have been raised since 2012, when he publicly apologized for going on an elephant hunt in Botswana in the midst of Spain’s grueling economic crisis. Juan Carlos’ son Felipe will assume the role as new head of the state. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2807983/spain-king-abdicate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2807983/spain-king-abdicate/"},"headline":"King of Spain Will Abdicate, Prime Minister Declares","datePublished":"2014-06-02T09:34:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:09:20.897Z","description":"King Juan Carlos I's decision follows years of criticism for his lavish lifestyle and an investigation into alleged corruption by his son-in-law. He will be succeeded by his son Prince Felipe","url":"https://time.com/2807983/spain-king-abdicate/","keywords":["europe","Spain","king"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9f8f60f0c38cf88/698695c3cd804d34b6ccb43a/spanish-king-juan-carlos.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Per Liljas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/per-liljas/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9f8f60f0c38cf88/698695c3cd804d34b6ccb43a/spanish-king-juan-carlos.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Spain's King Juan Carlos leaves after the official opening of the Parliament, in Madrid on Dec. 27, 2011.","caption":"Spain's King Juan Carlos leaves after the official opening of the Parliament, in Madrid on Dec. 27, 2011.","creditText":"Daniel Ochoa de Olza—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/europe/","name":"europe"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2807983/spain-king-abdicate/","name":"King of Spain Will Abdicate, Prime Minister Declares"}}]}] ```