Juan Carlos I of Spain Juan Carlos I of Spain Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a former King of Spain, reigning from 1975 until his abdication in 2014. Juan Carlos is the grandson of Alfonso XIII, the last king of Spain before the abolition of the monarchy in 1931 and the subsequent declaration of the Second Spanish Republic. Juan Carlos was born in Rome, Italy, during his family's exile. "Generalísimo" Francisco Franco, the Spanish dictator who initiated the civil war by means of a coup d'état against the constitutional republic in
Juan Carlos I of Spain Bribón series of yachts. In winter, the family often go skiing in Baqueira-Beret and Candanchú (Pyrenees). At present, his hobbies include classic sailing boats. Juan Carlos also hunts bears; in October 2004, he angered environmental activists by killing nine bears, one of which was a pregnant female, in central Romania. It was alleged by the Russian regional authorities that in August 2006 Juan Carlos shot a drunken tame bear (Mitrofan the Bear) during a private hunting trip to Russia; the Office of the Spanish Monarchy denied this claim. Juan Carlos is a member of the World Scout Foundation and of