Cristina de Borbon, sister of Spain’s King Felipe VI, is to stand trial on tax fraud charges as soon as next year, becoming the first Spanish royal to face prosecution.
Madrid.—Princess Cristina’s father Juan Carlos abdicated in June after a series of scandals, and his son Felipe is riding high in opinion polls.
He has tried to modernise the monarchy and has taken away rights and duties from his two sisters, neither of whom is now formally part of the royal family.
Prosecutors in Palma have been conducting an investigation into the affairs of Cristina’s husband, former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin, for four years.
They have ordered Cristina, 49, Urdangarin and 15 others to stand trial in the case involving his Noos Foundation charity, the Balearic High Court said yesterday.
Graft investigations in Spain have exposed high-level corruption among politicians, trade unions and bankers among others, and have eroded Spaniards’ faith in their institutions after a major economic crisis and a government austerity drive.
As Spain heads into a general election year, corruption will be high on the political agenda.
Polls show the issue as Spaniards’ second biggest concern after sky-high unemployment.
New anti-establishment party Podemos - “we can” in Spanish - has already benefited from the disaffection, and threatens to eat away at support for mainstream political leaders, including those from the ruling centre-right Partido Popular and the opposition Socialists.
Cristin
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