Majorca gets ready for one of the biggest trials in history

Princess Cristina, the King’s sister, faces eight years in prison, charged as having been a necessary accomplice in two tax offences. She is not, however, being charged by the state but by the “union” Manos Limpias. It believes that her role was imperative for her husband to have been able to defraud almost 340,000 euros of income tax for the years 2007 and 2008 via a company which they co-owned, Aizoon, this having been one of the “screen” businesses as part of the alleged plot by Urdangarin and Torres.

The prosecution does not believe that there are indications of a crime having been committed by the princess, albeit that she would have benefited from funds supposedly defrauded by her husband.

The first session of the trial is due to be devoted to her defence claim that the so-called Botin doctrine should be applied to the princess. Under this, it is argued that a trial cannot proceed if the prosecution is only private, which is the case with Manos Limpias. Neither the public prosecutor nor the Tax Agency has accused the princess of any crime. The princess will have to be in court while this defence submission is being considered.

The investigation by Judge Castro included examination of the princess’s accounts and movement of assets as well as requests to the Tax Agency and the National Police’s Financial Crime Squad. This led to her having been indicted (but only by the judge and not the prosecutor) in February 2014.

The trial has generated significant media interest, with up to 590 journalists and others as well as 84 media companies having been accredited. It will take place in a courtroom in the Balearic School of Public Administration in the Son Rossinyol industrial estate in Palma.

A total of 363 witnesses are expected to be called, among the former vice-premier, Rodrigo Rato and one-time senior officials from the Royal Household. A request for King Felipe to be a witness (made by the Torres defence) is unlikely to be met as the law does not oblige a monarch to declare.

Others of those accused include the ex-president of the Balearics, Jaume Matas, who faces a prosecution demand for eleven years imprisonment. The first to actually be called will be the former director general of sports in the Balearic government, José Luis Ballester. He has already expressed his repentance in the case, but will still take the stand on 9 February.