MADRID : Spain’s King Juan Carlos will have hip surgery for a third time, the royal palace said on Friday, reviving speculation the ailing monarch may be close to abdicating. The 75-year-old monarch, who walks with a cane and has appeared visibly more frail in recent months, has had seven surgeries since 2010. Both of his hips have been replaced and in March he had an operation on a spinal disc hernia. The King, who helped guide Spain to democracy at the end of the Francisco Franco dictatorship in 1975, was long one of Europe’s most popular monarchs, but a series of scandals have eroded public support for the royal family.