Spain’s Senate has approved legislation allowing King Juan Carlos to abdicate this week and hand the throne to Crown Prince Felipe.<br /><br />The law setting out the abdication’s legal procedures passed on Tuesday by 233 votes to <br />five with 20 abstentions.<br /><br />The legislation was approved by the lower house last week.<br /><br />Juan Carlos will formally ratify the law Wednesday, and his 46-year-old son will be proclaimed King Felipe VI at a ceremony in parliament on Thursday.<br /><br />The 76-year-old monarch’s official status will be Captain-General of the Army.<br /><br />Juan Carlos says he wants to step aside after a four-decade reign so that younger royal blood can rally a country plagued by economic problems, and royal scandals.<br /><br />Spain has deployed 7,000 police for the ceremonies but no foreign dignitaries have been invited, in keeping with the hard economic times.<br /><br />Royal memorabilia bearing the names and faces of Felipe and his wife Letizia have begun appearing in shops.<br /><br />The couple have two daughters, seven-year-old Sofia and eight-year-old Leonor, who will be the youngest direct royal heir to a throne in Europe.
