Spanish royals counter-attack in corruption affair

By Sinikka Tarvainen Dec 12, 2011, 14:46 GMT

Madrid - The Spanish royal palace on Monday tried to fight off an unprecedented corruption scandal which was closing in on the royal family, sidelining the alleged black sheep.

The behaviour of Princess Cristina's husband, Inaki Urdangarin, 'does not appear exemplary,' palace protocol chief Rafael Spottorno told journalists, announcing that the Duke of Palma de Majorca would not participate in official royal activities for now.

Spottorno even left open the possibility that the 46-year-old princess herself might disappear from public view, commenting on her situation only with the words 'we shall see.'

Cristina married the 43-year-old commoner and former Olympic handball player in 1997.

The princess is the middle one among King Juan Carlos' and Queen Sofia's three children, and the seventh in line to the throne. She and Urdangarin have four children.

The handsome and pleasant Urdangarin appeared the perfect royal son-in-law, until press reports began to emerge that he had become involved in corrupt business deals in the Balearic Islands and in the eastern region of Valencia.

Prosecutors are investigating the non-profit Noos Institute, which the duke headed from 2004 to 2006.

Urdangarin and his business partner Diego Torres allegedly used the institute to organize events related to sports and tourism, diverting millions of euros in public and private funds into their own companies.

Torres has already been named an official suspect in the case, and Urdangarin was expected to follow. That would make him the first member of the royal family to be indicted in a criminal case.

Cristina was involved with the Noos Institute and with one of her husband's companies, but she was not aware of the details of his financial dealings, the daily El Pais quoted investigators as saying.

The couple's decision to move to the United States in 2009 is now being linked with the corruption case, which investigators were beginning to look into at the time.

Urdangarin recently visited Spain to prepare his defence. Queen Sofia then visited Cristina and her husband in Washington, allowing herself to be photographed with the couple in what was interpreted as a sign of support.

King Juan Carlos and Crown Prince Felipe, however, are reportedly shocked, and taking a distance from Urdangarin.

The duke said over the weekend that he deplored the 'serious damage' that constant media coverage of his 'private activities' was doing to the royal family.

'He is worried, distressed and a little bit angry over what is coming out in the media,' Urdangarin's lawyer said Monday, maintaining that his client was innocent.

The royal palace, meanwhile, was taking measures to prevent the scandal from snowballing into a more general questioning of the monarchy. Spottorno announced that the palace would start publishing accounts on how it spends its annual budget of 8.4 million euros (11 million dollars).

The budget is relatively modest compared to those of some other European monarchies, but republican far-left and regionalist parties had long been calling for more transparency on how the king divides it up.

Last week, the palace also said it would reduce the official activities of Cristina and her older sister Elena, as had been planned before the Urdangarin affair broke.

The princesses, who work for charitable foundations, would thus stop receiving allowances from the royal budget.

The budget was frozen in 2009, and was even cut by 5 per cent in 2010 as the royal family's contribution to austerity policies combating Spain's economic crisis.

Criticism of the royal family, however, continued mounting in Spain. The country has a strong republican tradition, and the popularity of the monarchy is based mainly on Juan Carlos' personal contribution to thwarting a coup attempt in 1981.

The king should have stopped his son-in-law's business dealings long ago, commentator Victoria Prego wrote in the daily El Mundo, saying the monarch would now be viewed with 'much less affection than during all of his reign.'

If Urdangarin is made an official corruption suspect, 'only a premature abdication (by the king) could stop the debate on the monarchy or the republic which has been postponed so many times,' commentator Juan Carlos Escudier wrote in the daily Publico.

So far, however, Spain's two main parties - Socialists and conservatives - have rejected all attempts by smaller parties to question the monarchy.

'I believe that institutionally, the king will know how to handle this situation,' Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Monday.