Last monday Don Juan Carlos I, King of Spain announced his abdication after 39 years of reign And although the majority of Spaniards already know him well enough, it never hurts to delve a little deeper into the history of possibly the key figure for what Spain is today is what it is and can proudly say that it is an established democracy and that breathe good health on all four sides.
There are, for example, hundreds of documentaries on the figure of the King, but as usual and given our love of reading, we want to recommend six books so that you can learn about or go a little deeper into the elongated and influential figure of Juan Carlos I.
The solitude of the King. Jose Garcia-Abad
The first of the titles in which the key figure is treated serves to learn about the first 25 years since the Constitution marked the way forward with a parliamentary monarchy as a form of state. Through interesting interviews with all kinds of characters we can get to know a little better the important work of the King and also appreciate how the first quarter of a century of the monarchy in Spain has been.
The king. Jose Luis de Vilallonga
Without a doubt it should be the bedside book for anyone who wants to boast of knowing the King or who needs to know very specific information about his life. Throughout this book, José Luis de Vilallonga tells us hundreds of stories and curiosities drawn from the many conversations that the writer and the monarch had. In addition, you can see dozens of photographs from the personal archive of the royal family that have never been seen before.
Don Juan. Luis Maria Anson
The history of Juan Carlos I and that of Spain are difficult to understand without first knowing the history of Don Juan, father of the King who witnessed some of the most important events in Franco's Spain and the first years of democracy. In this book you can read, for example, some letters from the King and Franco to Don Juan de Borbón that are key to understanding why the latter would abdicate the crown of Spain in favor of his son.
The price of the throne. Urban Pillar
Just by meeting the author of this book, Urban Pillar and the length of it, 1.200 pages, one can realize that one is going to know and even learn hundreds of things about the monarchy and the figure of Juan Carlos I. Throughout this book we will be able to know what the life of the monarch until he assumed the throne on the death of Franco in 1975 and some little-known events that sometimes marked the course of events.
Word of King. Fermín J. Urbiola
Its title says it all and is that This book is based on the words spoken throughout his years of reign by Juan Carlos I in his different speeches or public appearances and thanks to which we can review history in a truthful way. Undoubtedly one of the most essential books to know the King, given its transparency and veracity.
The great forgetfulness. What Suárez forgot and the King prefers not to remember. Urban Pillar
Pilar Urbano returns to sign this book surrounded by controversy and in which everything that happened around the attempted coup of 23-F is told also stating that the King himself was behind it, which of course could not be confirmed and has been denied by the Royal House and by the family of Adolfo Suárez, the other great protagonist of this book that was published a few days after his death.