MADRID -- Lawmakers in Spain overwhelmingly approved on Wednesday an abdication law that paves the way for Crown Prince Felipe to ascend to the throne being vacated by his father, King Juan Carlos.
But the parliamentary debate also highlighted the political and territorial tensions that await King Felipe VI, with Catalan lawmakers abstaining from the vote and instead calling on the king-to-be to endorse their plan to hold a referendum on independence. The debate also was disrupted by a handful of leftist parliamentarians, who waved signs demanding a referendum on whether to maintain Spain's monarchy.
Speaking in parliament, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy praised Juan Carlos, particularly for serving as the "skillful pilot of a transition filled with risks," having taken the throne in 1975, two days after the death of the dictator Gen. Francisco Franco. Almost four decades later Felipe is taking over with the clear backing of Spanish society, Rajoy said.
"Never in the history of the past two centuries has a succession taken place with such normality as this one," he said.
That claim, however, was immediately questioned by some lawmakers who addressed parliament after Rajoy. Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, parliamentary spokesman for Convergence and Union, the governing party in Catalonia, said Catalans had recently been "excluded from the history of Spain," by the country's mainstream parties, as well as by a king who refused to recognize Catalan demands for greater autonomy.
Catalonia's regional government is planning a November referendum on independence that Rajoy's government has declared illegal and has vowed to prevent.
"I hope the new king will be sensitive to the demands of the Catalan citizenship, as well as the crisis of our institutions," Duran i Lleida said.
Lawmakers from the lower house of parliament approved the abdication law, 299-19, with 23 abstentions. Senators are expected to approve the abdication law Tuesday.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Spain last week after King Juan Carlos announced his abdication. In fact, a majority of Spaniards want a referendum on the monarchy, according to an opinion poll published Sunday by the newspaper El Pais and carried out by Metroscopia.
"We have full legitimacy to demand a referendum," Cayo Lara, the leader of the United Left party, told lawmakers Wednesday. "Today's debate is about whether we want to deepen Spain's democracy or whether we want to continue with a system that is at times despotic."
Lara described the monarchy as "an anachronistic institution" and warned lawmakers of the consequences of not holding a referendum: "I'm sure the Spanish people will make you pay in the future for the decision that you're taking today."
But Rajoy's Popular Party holds a parliamentary majority. Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, leader of the main Socialist opposition party, also managed to quell dissent among the Socialists, with only two of them abstaining during Wednesday's vote.
Felipe VI is set to be crowned June 19 in a low-key ceremony. Europe's other royal families and foreign leaders will not attend.
Still, the debate over the monarchy is set to continue in coming weeks, particularly over what title and legal status Juan Carlos should be given after his abdication.
Under the Spanish Constitution, only the king is guaranteed full legal immunity. But the government is looking to offer Juan Carlos a special protected status, which is also granted to some other public officials and retired lawmakers and would ensure he could only be tried by the country's highest courts.
A Section on 06/12/2014