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Article: A Visit by Juan Carlos
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- September 23, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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As Francisco Franco lay dying through the golden Iberian autumn a
dozen years ago, Spaniards shared only one firm conviction about
their political future: History would know the amiable young man whom
Franco had chosen to be his political heir and their king as Juan
Carlos the Brief. He was destined to be a figurehead monarch,
quickly shoved from the throne by Spain's terrible-tempered political
factions, as his grandfather had been in 1931.
The Spanish are lucky enough to have been totally wrong about
this engagingly direct and deceptively shrewd royal. Juan Carlos not
only still reigns, but is now widely respected for his crucial part
in guiding Spain's transition to democracy and an ...