After years of keeping silent, a judge has brought to light one of the open secrets surrounding Infanta Cristina and King Juan Carlos. This confession promises to reopen the debate around the Spanish Royal Family.
It has already been 14 years since the scandal began that put all members of the Spanish monarchy in check. This controversy, to this day, is still having its consequences.
In 2011, during the investigation of the Nóos case, a judicial proceeding derived from the Palma Arena case, Iñaki Urdangarin was accused of various corruption offenses. Among them were abuse of power, embezzlement, fraud, forgery, money laundering, and tax offenses.
However, it was not until April 2013 when Judge José Castro decided to indict Infanta Cristina for the first time, a decision that was later overturned by the Palma Court.
Nevertheless, in January 2014, the daughter of King Juan Carlos was once again charged and the case was reopened. Finally, in November of that same year, the opening of oral proceedings was ordered against seventeen defendants, including the former Dukes of Palma.
Two years later, Infanta Cristina was acquitted of all charges, although she was fined 265,000 euros. Meanwhile, the Palma Court sentenced Iñaki Urdangarin to six years and three months in prison in 2017.
Now, Judge José Castro, already retired from the judiciary, has decided to break his silence to speak openly about the matter. He has done so in The Nóos Case: The Whole Truth of the Process That Shocked Spain Told by Its Leading Judge, a book that was published last September 18.
Judge Castro reveals information about Infanta Cristina and King Juan Carlos related to the Nóos case
In his new publication, Judge Castro presents his version of one of the most high-profile and complex proceedings in the history of our country. This account will undoubtedly reopen old wounds for all those involved.
On its pages, one can read statements such as the following: "I am very clear that[Infanta Cristina]and her father are the masterminds behind all the events under investigation. Poor Iñaki is being reserved the role of the scapegoat."
This way, the judge reveals a telling secret: the role played by King Juan Carlos and his daughter in this scandal that managed to taint the Crown.
It was the newspaper El Mundo that published a preview of the book where the judge sets out, among other things, "the dispute he kept with Pedro Horrach, the case's prosecutor." All "for naming the daughter of the emeritus king as a suspect for the diversion of public funds to the non-profit entity she shared with her husband."
Nevertheless, after an intense exchange of opinions, the lawyer managed to get Horrach to accept the alternative of her appearing as a witness. "We can't reach the King, but summoning the Infanta to testify is mandatory as an absolutely necessary accomplice in all the crimes committed by her husband," the judge argued.
Regarding Urdangarin's sentence, the judge has no doubts about his father-in-law's position. As he explains, "the emeritus never liked to part with money, and if not, just ask his son-in-law when he still was."
In his view, "he could have avoided the judicial storm if his royal father-in-law had been willing to put certain amounts of money on the table when all the intricacies of the Nóos case were still unknown."