No foreign VIPs for Spanish king’s swearing-in: palace

Spanish lawmakers will swear in the future King Felipe VI at a ceremony in parliament with no foreign dignitaries invited to see him accede to the throne, the palace said Thursday.

Felipe, 46, is to take the crown following his increasingly unpopular father Juan Carlos’s announcement on Monday that he is abdicating as king after a historic four-decade reign.

“In Spain it is the tradition that abdications and proclamations of a king take place before the people’s elected representatives, the members of parliament and senators,” a palace spokesman said.

“In principle, foreign delegations will not take part,” he told AFP. A military parade is planned but no religious coronation service.

“The ceremony will take place in parliament and afterwards when Felipe VI starts his reign there will be a tour of Spain and abroad,” the spokesman said.

For the first stops on the tour the prince and his wife, the new Queen Letizia, are likely to visit neighbouring France, Morocco and Portugal, he added.

Juan Carlos handed a letter of abdication to the government which has drawn up an act of parliament to bring it into force.

The lower house of parliament is scheduled to vote on that bill on June 11 and the Senate the following week around June 18. If it is passed by both houses, Felipe can then be sworn in straightaway.

The tall former Olympic yachtsman ascends to the throne as Spain struggles with a 26-percent jobless rate, a push for independence in the Catalonia region and noisy protests by those who want a republic.

Pro-republican groups have called for a demonstration in Madrid on Saturday to demand a referendum on the monarchy.

Spain’s main political forces, the ruling Popular Party and opposition Socialists, back Felipe’s succession however and are expected to speed it through parliament.