Spanish former king Juan Carlos I pays thousands in tax debt
December 10, 2020
The law firm of the former king of Spain, Juan Carlos I, announced on Wednesday that the monarch had voluntarily paid tax dues on previously undisclosed income.
The Spanish royal paid almost €680,000 ($821,000) to the tax authorities including money owed on previously undeclared income.
The 82-year-old ex-monarch secretly fled to Abu Dhabi in August 2020 after prosecutors in Spain and Switzerland opened an investigation into his financial transactions.
His lawyer said that Juan Carlos "remains, as he has always been, available for prosecutors, for any procedure or action that they may take."
Spanish monarchy 'not in danger'
Responding to the news, Spain's socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told the national television channel that the scrutiny into the royal's finances proved that institutions of power were working.
"As the government, we can guarantee that all the mechanisms of democracy are working. The investigation will reach its conclusion with transparency," Sanchez said.
Defending the existence of the constitutional monarchy, Sanchez also insisted that "the monarchy is not in danger."
The former king accrued debts over years of using a credit card paid for by Mexican businessman Allen Sangines-Krause, according to reports by the Spanish newspapers El Pais and La Vanguardia.
Wednesday's payments followed the discovery that prosecutors were investigating the royal's failure to declare the gifted credit card as an income.
Scandals tarnish the royal household
As king, Juan Carlos won popularity for his role in the transfer from dictatorship to democracy in the 1970s.
However, a spate of scandals that brought unwanted attention to the royal household led to his stepping down in favor of his son King Felipe VI.
The former monarch moved to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates where he had a close relationship with the crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Said al Nahjan.
The controversy over the royal family's accounts has put a strain on the relationship between the royal household and the national socialist government.
It is as yet unclear when or if the former monarch plans to return to Spain.
ab/rc (EFE, dpa, AP, AFP)