Juan Carlos I of Spain

Juan Carlos (/ˌhwɑːŋˈkɑːrloʊs/, Spanish: [xwaŋˈkaɾlos]; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) reigned as King of Spain from 1975 to 2014, when he abdicated in favour of his son, Felipe VI.

Generalísimo Francisco Franco, the Spanish dictator, took over the government of Spain from the short-lived Second Spanish Republic by leading a successful rebellion in 1939, and ruled as "Regent to the [exiled] King of Spain". In 1969, he chose Prince Juan Carlos, grandson of King Alfonso XIII, to be the next head of state, bypassing his father Juan de Borbón and expecting him to continue Franco's own authoritarian regime. Juan Carlos became King on 22 November 1975, two days after Franco's death, the first reigning monarch since 1931. His father did not abdicate in favor of his son until 1977. Soon after enthronement, however, Juan Carlos introduced reforms to dismantle the Francoist regime and begin the Spanish transition to democracy. This led to the approval of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 in a referendum, which established a constitutional monarchy. In 1981, Juan Carlos played a major role in preventing a coup that attempted to revert Spain to Francoist government in the King's name.

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V (French: Charles Quint; German: Karl V.) (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558), also known as Charles I of Spain (Spanish: Carlos I), was Duke of Burgundy and ruler of the Netherlands from 1506, ruler of the Spanish Empire from 1516 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1519, until he voluntarily stepped down from these and other positions by a series of abdications between 1554 and 1556. Through inheritance, he brought together under his rule extensive territories in central, western, and southern Europe, and the Spanish colonies in the Americas and Asia. As a result, his domains spanned nearly four million square kilometers, and were the first to be described as "the empire on which the sun never sets".

Charles was the heir of three of Europe's leading dynasties: the Houses of Habsburg, Valois-Burgundy and Trastámara. From his own dynasty, the Habsburgs, he inherited Austria and other lands in central Europe. He was also elected to succeed his Habsburg grandfather, Maximilian I as Holy Roman Emperor, a title held by the Habsburgs since 1440. He inherited the Burgundian Netherlands and the Franche-Comté as heir of the House of Valois-Burgundy. From the Spanish House of Trastámara, he inherited the crowns of Castile, which was in the process of developing a nascent empire in the Americas and Asia, and Aragon. The latter included a Mediterranean empire that extended to Southern Italy. Charles was the first king to rule Castile and Aragon simultaneously in his own right, and, as a result, is sometimes referred to as the first King of Spain. The personal union, under Charles, of the Holy Roman Empire with the Spanish empire resulted in the closest Europe would come to a universal monarchy in the post-classical era.

Australian rules football in Europe

Australian rules football is played in Europe at an amateur level in a large number of countries. The oldest and largest leagues are those in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, each nation having a number of clubs, organised junior programs and women's football. The British AFL has now dramatically expanded into the Welsh, Scottish and English leagues. The Danish AFL has been responsible for the expansion of Australian Football into Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Norway. The governing body for Australian Football in Europe was founded in Frankfurt in January 2010; the body was initially called the European Australian Football Association, but changed its name to AFL Europe at a general assembly meeting in Milan in October of the same year. It currently has 19 member nations. AFL Europe, with backing of the AFL in Australia has overseen a large improvement in the organisation of Australian football in Europe.

The sport has grown from a few clubs and leagues started mainly by expatriate Australians and returning nationals in the late 1980s and early 1990s, to now having established leagues in over 15 nations, with the majority of players being non-Australian.

Spain (disambiguation)

Spain is a European country.

Spain may also refer to:

Other meanings

Music

Spain (European Parliament constituency)

In European elections, Spain is a constituency of the European Parliament, currently represented by fifty-four MEPs. It covers the entirety of Spain and is the largest European Parliament constituency in terms of geographic area.

Current MEPs

As of July 2012

1987

The first European election in Spain was a by-election held after it joined the European Communities in 1987. The rest of the EC had voted in 1984.

1989

The 1989 European election was the third election to the European Parliament and the first time Spain voted with the rest of the Community.

1994

The 1994 European election was the fourth election to the European Parliament and the third European election in Spain.

1999

The 1999 European election was the fifth election to the European Parliament.

2004

The 2004 European election was the sixth election to the European Parliament.

2009

References

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