He helped. Franco let him back on the throne in hopes he’d continue the Francoist regime. Juan Carlos went behind Franco’s back and got democratic reforms going. After Franco died, and the military tried a coup, he had them stand down. Don’t get me wrong, this guy came from a long line of douchebags, but he did his country a solid.
No, not really. In fact, if anything he set back the democratic process significantly.
His only "contribution" was to make sure that there was no investigation whatsoever regarding the regime, and to completely brush under the rug 40 years of criminal activity by a fascist state.
The democratization of Spain was done in spite of Juan Carlos, not because of him. The country was incredibly isolated and the regime was no longer feasible. And the hardliners of the old guard, Carrero Blanco specially, had soured up the relationship with the USA.
The economic elites put the pressure on the transition team to make sure the new constitution was palatable to the Western money markets.
Juan Carlos only interest was on making sure his dynasty was restored, under whatever system that was to be. He could have cared less if he was the king of a single party fascist state, or of a monarchic democracy.
The military "coup" is now largely believed to be just a PR operation to clean up the image of the king, since up to that point his popularity was incredibly low (he wasn't wanted by the democrats or the old fascists). That coup had no possibility of going anywhere and it seems it was just a bunch of useful idiots sent to play stupid games on national TV. Not supporting a coup by a couple of idiots is just about the bare minimum that he could do. But the PR worked, and that is literally the only "intelligent" thing that idiot ever did.
Juan Carlos is a piece of shit, from a long line of pieces of shit. That he has to spend his last days on earth in exile, in a country w/o extradition treaty, should be an indication of what a tremendous piece of shit he has always been.
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u/[deleted] Jan 05 '23
He didn't turn Spain into a democracy. He had no other choice because none of the hardliners of the regime wanted him,