Royalty · Military · Living
Born: 5 January 1938 · Age: 88
Juan Carlos I of Spain is 88 years old as of October 2026. He was born on 5 January 1938.
King of Spain from 1975 to 2014 who led the transition to democracy after Franco and faced down a 1981 coup attempt
Did you know?He is an enthusiastic amateur radio operator and has used the call sign EA0JC during his time on the throne.
Juan Carlos I steered Spain from dictatorship to democracy. Born in exile in Rome, he was chosen by Francisco Franco as his successor and educated in Spain under the dictator's eye. Many expected him to continue Franco's rule. Instead, after becoming king in 1975, he used his powers to help dismantle the regime and back a democratic constitution. In February 1981, when army officers stormed parliament, his televised stand helped defeat the coup. Later scandals over an elephant hunt and his finances damaged his reputation. He abdicated in favour of his son Felipe in 2014.
Juan Carlos I (Spanish:; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 1975 until his abdication in 2014.
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Profile
King of Spain, born 1938
Juan Carlos was born in Rome on 5 January 1938.
He became king in 1975.
He backed democracy in the 1981 coup attempt.
He abdicated in 2014.
Career highlights
Did you know?He moved to Abu Dhabi in 2020.
Questions people ask
The 1972 Summer Olympics (German: Olympische Sommerspiele 1972), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad (German: Spiele der XX.
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
A coup d'état was attempted in Spain in February 1981 by right-wing, Francoist elements of the Civil Guard and the Spanish military. The failure of the coup marked the last serious attempt to revert Spain to a Francoist state and served to consolidate Spain's democratization process.
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
¿Por qué no te callas? (Spanish:; English: "Why don't you shut up?") is a phrase that was uttered by King Juan Carlos I of Spain to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, at the 2007 Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile, when Chávez was repeatedly interrupting Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's…
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Pandora Papers are 11.9 million leaked documents with 2.9 terabytes of data that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published beginning on 3 October 2021.
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1932–2016
1876–1967
b. 1975
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1846–1926Missing someone? Suggest them
1929–1968
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Last reviewed: October 2026