This is a May 1973 file photo of Spain's leader Francisco Franco, left, with his future successor as King, Prince Juan Carlos de Borbon, as they watch a military parade in Madrid . Spain's King Juan Carlos will abdicate and pave the way for his son, Crown Prince Felipe, to take over, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told the country Monday in an announcement broadcast nationwide. He did not say when Juan Carlos would abdicate because the government must now craft a law creating a legal mechanism for the abdication and for 46-year-old Felipe's assumption of power. King Juan Carlos came to power in 1975, two days after the death of longtime dictator Francisco Franco. He endeared himself to many Spaniards in large part by putting down an attempted military coup in 1981 when he was a young and largely untested head of state. (AP Photo)
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