Lawmakers call for investigation into Spanish royal family corruption

Lawmakers in the Spanish congress have officially requested the creation of a commission to investigate alleged corruption within Spain’s royal family.

The petition was put forward on Monday by left-wing Podemos, as well as pro-independence groups Esquerra Republicana (ERC,) PDeCAT, the Valencian party Compromís, and Basque Bildu.

According to the leftist pro-independence group ERC’s Joan Maragall, dozens of questions regarding Spain’s royal family have been put forward over the years. Every time they have been vetoed.

Maximum transparency

“We need maximum transparency, we ask the tripartite of (Article) 155 to let us know the truth,” he said. The tripartite, or three parties, he referred to were the Socialists (PSOE,) the People’s Party (PP,) and Ciutadans (Cs) who all backed the stripping of Catalonia’s self-rule last Autumn. All unionist parties in  the Spanish  congress, they are also in  favour of the monarchy.

Among the alleged cases of corruption carried out by former king Juan Carlos I are the collection of untaxed commissions to close businesses abroad, and having “opaque” accounts in Switzerland.

Recorded conversations involving friend of Juan Carlos I and business woman Corinna revealed these supposed crimes of the previous king of Spain, and form the basis for the investigation request.

“We need to overcome the laws of silence,” said Podemos’ Rafa Mayoral regarding the matter.

The motion will have to be voted on in the lower chamber, where monarchist parties the ruling PSOE, PP, and Cs have an absolute majority.

Royal scandals

The cousin of the current Spanish king, Urdangarín, entered jail on June 18. He was found guilty of misuse of public funds, breach of official duty, fraud against the administration, two fiscal crimes, and influence peddling.

Juan Carlos I retired from the throne. He had also been ousted from the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) presidency after it came to light he had hunted elephants in Africa. He was succeeded by his son Felipe IV.