As Spain struggles with high unemployment and severe austerity policies, King Juan Carlos decided to abdicate the throne to his son, Felipe. In a frugal yet formal ceremony, the prince became king of Spain.

King Juan Carlos assumed the throne in 1976, following the death of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. During his reign, Spain returned to democracy and he helped thwart a coup in 1981 led by Civil Guard officers who wanted to establish a military government. However, as the world succumbed to the financial crisis and Spain suffered at the hand of a volatile economy, Spaniards saw the king as out of touch.

A hunting trip in Africa in 2012 revealed to the people how disconnected the king was from the common people's plight. The king announced to his people that he would abdicate in favor of his younger and more popular son.

Prince Felipe of Asturias became King Felipe VI at midnight Thursday, following the king's formal abdication Wednesday. A ceremony that would traditionally be filled with pomp and regalia instead was simple and attended by only members of government and other Spanish celebrities and elites. No foreign royalty or dignitaries were invited, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The new 46-year-old king gave a 26-minute speech in which he promised to rekindle the people's trust in the monarchy and also alluded to separatist concerns.

"Today more than ever, the citizens demand that moral and ethical principles inspire our public life," he declared. "And the king, at the head of the state, has to be not only a standard-bearer, but also a servant of this legitimate demand.

"There is room for all of us in this united and diverse Spain," he said at one point, before finishing by saying thanks in Catalan, Basque, Galician and Spanish, the country's four official languages, reported the Journal.

Dressed in a military uniform, the new king received the royal sash from his father but never donned the crown. A quarter of Spaniards are unemployed, and the palace said the simple ceremony, in which guests were served cold tapas, followed the austere trend in government. Afterward, the king drove through Madrid's streets with his wife, Queen Letizia, and their two daughters.

However, there were also protests in those streets. A vocal minority in the country wants Spain to become a republic again, and some protested Thursday despite a ban on protests for the day.