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Spain’s scandal-hit royal family has been hit with fresh controversy after it emerged that the brother-in-law of King Felipe VI had an affair with a female colleague at a company where he is performing community service as part of a corruption sentence.
Inaki Urdangarin admitted that he was having an affair this morning when questioned by journalists as he arrived at the law firm where he is serving part of his corruption sentence and where he apparently met the woman in question.
‘These things happen,’ he said. ‘It is a difficulty that we will manage with the utmost tranquillity and together as we have always done.’
Urdangarin, 54, married the king’s youngest sister Infanta Cristina in 1997 but was recently photographed hand in hand strolling down a beach in the South of France with Ainhoa Armentia, 43.
The relationship of the royal couple, who appeared happy together with their four children at a Spanish ski resort during the Christmas holiday, was reported to have been under strain for some time. Some reports suggested that Mr Urdangarin had already informed his wife about the affair.
The affair has caused further damage to the Spanish crown following the exile of Juan Carlos, Spain’s former king and Felipe’s father in 2020 after a barrage of multimillion-euro corruption allegations were brought to light.
His abdication was prompted in part by a corruption investigation into Mr Urdangarin’s financial affairs. In 2017, Mr Urdangarin was sentenced to serve nearly six years in jail for crimes including tax fraud and embezzlement. He was found guilty of using royal connections to overcharge regional governments through public contracts to stage sports and tourist events.
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