Alfonso XIII, King of Spain from 1886 until the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931.
Alfonso was monarch from birth as his father, Alfonso XII, had died the previous year. His mother served as regent until he assumed full powers on his sixteenth birthday in 1902.
Alfonso was monarch from birth as his father, Alfonso XII, had died the previous year. His mother served as regent until he assumed full powers on his sixteenth birthday in 1902.
During Alfonso's reign Spain experienced four major problems that contributed to the end of the liberal monarchy: the lack of real political representation of broad social groups; the poor situation of the popular classes, problems arising from the Rif War; Catalan nationalism.
Alfonso was born in Madrid on 17 May 1886. He was the posthumous son of Alfonso XII of Spain, who had died in November 1885, and became King of Spain upon his birth. Just after he was born, he was carried naked to the Spanish prime minister on a silver tray.
Five days later he was carried in a solemn court procession with a golden fleece round his neck and was baptized with water specially brought from the River Jordan in Palestine.
The French newspaper Le Figaro described the young king in 1889 as "the happiest and best-loved of all the rulers of the earth".
His mother, Maria Christina of Austria, served as his regent until his 16th birthday. During the regency, in 1898, Spain lost its colonial rule over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the United States as a result of the Spanish–American War.
When he came of age in May 1902, the week of his majority was marked by festivities, bullfights, balls and receptions throughout Spain. He took his oath to the constitution before members of the Cortes on 17 May.
