This royal Palace was commissioned by Felipe V, the first Bourbon King, to replace the burned Alcazar.
After 40 years of a fascist dictatorship, Spanish Democracy was reestablished in 1975. Currently, King Juan Carlos the First, one of the descendants of Felipe V, is the King of Spain. He was Franco's hand picked successor. Nowadays Spain is a modern, stable and democratic constitutional monarchy, with 17 strong regional governments --known as 'autonomias' or 'Comunidades Autonomas'.