Book review: al libro: Oliver Araujo, J. Cuarenta años de Monarquía en España, 1975-2015, Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, 2022.

Abstract

Book review:

Oliver Araujo, J. Cuarenta años de Monarquía en España, 1975-2015, Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, 2022.

The central object of this book is the study of the long reign of Juan Carlos I, from his coronation in November 1975 to his abdication in June 2014. Three stages can be distinguished in this period: A) A first phase (1975-1982), between accession to the Throne and arrival at the Government of the PSOE, in which his political prestige increased due to his prominent role in the process of dismantling the Franco dictatorship and consolidating democracy in Spain. B) A second phase (1982-2010), which would comprise the long central period of the reign, of normalization of the parliamentary Monarchy in Spain. C) A third phase (2010-2014) of accelerated personal and institutional decline of the King, in which Don Juan Carlos —with an increasingly questioned private conduct— rapidly lost the prestige and consideration he had enjoyed, until the point of seriously endangering the continuity of the Monarchy.