House of Bourbon — Spain

The Bourbon succession in Spain

Philip V, a grandson of Louis XIV of France, became the first Bourbon king of Spain in 1700. The succession followed the death of Charles II and led to the War of the Spanish Succession. This page concerns the Spanish branch specifically. It does not treat all Bourbon branches across different countries and historical periods as one contemporary royal institution.

Interruptions and restoration

Spain’s Bourbon history includes interrupted reigns, exile, republics and changing constitutional arrangements. Juan Carlos I became king in 1975, and the 1978 constitution established the framework of the contemporary parliamentary monarchy. The history is therefore not an uninterrupted sequence of identical political powers. The role of today’s sovereign must be understood through the present constitution rather than assumed from eighteenth-century practice.

Felipe VI and the transition of 2014

Felipe VI became king on 19 June 2014 after Juan Carlos’s abdication. Letizia became queen consort. Her membership of the royal family is through marriage; she was born Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano. Their individual biographies separate the king’s constitutional position from the queen’s representative and public-interest work, rather than giving both the powers of the sovereign.

Leonor and Infanta Sofía

Leonor, the elder daughter of Felipe and Letizia, became Princess of Asturias and heir to the crown in 2014. Her younger sister Sofía is an infanta of Spain. The sisters’ titles are distinct, and neither means that either has already become queen. Leonor’s oath on reaching adulthood and her education and military preparation are stages in the public life of an heir.

Succession and the family diagram

The selected diagram shows the current sovereign and consort with their two daughters. It is a guide to the published biographies, not an exhaustive Bourbon genealogy. Spain’s crown passes according to constitutional succession provisions, which are separate from popularity, ceremonial visibility or a royal title alone. Official royal-house sources establish the current titles, while historical museum and government sources supply the dynastic background.

Historical timeline