Cristina de Borbón could stand in the dock over claims involving husband’s charity unless special law is used to end case

A Spanish court has approved charges of tax fraud against Princess Cristina de Borbón, the sister of King Felipe VI – paving the way for an unprecedented criminal trial.

A decision issued by a court in Palma de Mallorca on Friday said Cristina, 49, was still under investigation for two counts of tax fraud dating back to 2007 and 2008 but rejected the more serious charge of money laundering suggested by the investigating judge.

Cristina will now likely face trial but could be saved by a precedent known as the the Botín doctrine. It allows a person to avoid trial if no formal accusation is made by the public prosecutor or those directly affected by the offence. The public prosecutor has consistently opposed the charges against Cristina and the criminal complaint came from the activist anti-corruption group Manos Limpias – or Clean Hands. The decision of whether or not to apply the precedent rests with the investigating judge.

The case centres on Cristina’s husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, who is charged with fraud, falsifying documents and embezzlement.

Urdangarin, a former Olympic medal-winning handball player, ran a charitable foundation – the Nóos Institute – which is accused of siphoning off €5.8m (£4.5m) in public funds. Under the guise of consultancy and organising sports and tourism conferences, it is alleged Urdangarin and his former business partner, Diego Torres, used their connections to win public contracts, overcharged for services and funnelled the money into privately owned companies and offshore tax havens.

Cristina was a board member of the institute and together with her husband owned another company, Aizoon. In his June ruling, investigating judge José Castro noted that Urdangarin’s alleged crimes would have been “difficult to commit without at least the knowledge and acquiescence of his wife”.

Both Cristina and her husband have denied any wrongdoing.

In February, Cristina made headlines around the world when she appeared in court to answer questions about her role in one of Spain’s longest-running corruption scandals.

During her six-hour court appearance, she was asked more than 400 questions. She told the court that she had trusted her husband to manage their finances and answered 182 times that she did not know the answer to the question being asked. On another 55 occasions, she said that she did not remember certain situations or events being described.

Friday’s decision comes less than five months after Cristina’s brother, Felipe, ascended to the throne of Spain. In his first speech as the new king in June, he promised a clean break from the monarchy’s scandal-plagued past, pledging an “honest and transparent monarchy”.

Corruption has dominated headlines in Spain in recent weeks. In late October, 51 people – including six sitting mayors – were arrested on charges of bribery and embezzlement. Another 86 politicians and bankers connected to savings bank Caja Madrid are being investigated over alleged misuse of company credit cards, after racking up charges of more than €15m (£11.7m) on everything from groceries to safaris. The wild spending continued, even as Caja Madrid folded into Bankia, whose near-collapse forced Spain to seek an EU bailout.

In the face of growing public anger, Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, offered an unprecedented apology last week for the corruption scandals affecting members of his People’s party. “I apologise in the name of the PP to all Spaniards for having appointed people to positions who weren’t worthy of them and who seem to have taken advantage of them,” Rajoy told the senate. He pledged to do more to clean up Spanish politics.

Friday’s decision comes on the heels of several high-profile corruption cases that have shaken public officials and sparked public anger. In late October, 51 people -- including business leaders and six sitting mayors -- were arrested over charges of bribery and embezzlement. Another 86 politicians and bankers connected to savings bank Caja Madrid are being investigated over alleged misuse of company credit cards, after racking up charges of more than €15m on everything from groceries to safaris. The wild spending continued, even as Caja Madrid folded into Bankia, whose near-collapse forced Spain to seek an EU bailout.



Corruption ranks as a top concern for Spaniards, second only to unemployment. With just months left before municipal and regional elections, Spain’s political parties are fearfully eyeing the growing popularity of Podemos, a leftwing party that promises to rid the country of corruption, and making efforts to appear as though they are tackling the issue.



The ruling was unmistakably clear, said political commentator José Ignacio Torreblanca. “What it said is that she actually did something wrong. This isn’t something very extraordinary, maybe the fines won’t be huge and she’ll just have to pay back the taxes. But it is fraud.”

But with the rejection of the money laundering charge, the tone of the accusation was lowered, he said, and more aligned with the royal family’s efforts to pin the blame solely on Cristina husband. “But the fact that you can’t actively find a link doesn’t mean that she didn’t actually cooperate. I mean her husband was getting the contracts because of who she was. At the end of the day, she can’t claim that she knew nothing.”



While he said many across Spain would argue that Cristina had received special treatment by the court, he saw little possibility of this reflecting poorly on Felipe VI.



“He’s managed so far to stay out of all this,” he said, as the scandal is widely seen as a relic from the reign of his father.