In Spain, It's Not Good to Be the King

Amid loud calls for his abdication, Spain's King Juan Carlos I has been forced into the unprecedented and lowly position of justifying his throne to commoners, reports the Telegraph. Catalonian separatists have been burning effigies of him and Queen Sofia, and some are calling for him to hand the crown to his son. But Juan Carlos is not budging.

The king, who is largely a figurehead and keeps his distance from politics, addressed the masses, saying he has overseen the "longest period of stability and prosperity" in modern Spain. It's a tough moment for Juan Carlos—whose publicly-funded household recently submitted to an auditor—but he still enjoys widespread support, and was recently voted the greatest Spaniard of all time. (More Spain stories.)