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Spain's king to be audited
29/08/2007 22:20 - (SA)
Madrid - Spain's King Juan Carlos, known for a love of yachts and fine living, has named an auditor for his finances following calls for details of his spending to be made public.
Juan Carlos has not explained the reasoning behind his decision, announced in a brief note in the government's official bulletin this week, and the audit will not be made public, a royal spokesperson said.
The audit move followed persistent attempts in parliament by a left-wing party to uncover details of the royal family's use of government funds.
Catalan party Esquerra Republicana said the appointment of an auditor was at least a step towards transparency.
"The taboo about the monarchy is beginning to go away," said Joan Tarda, a member of parliament for Esquerra Republicana,
"The way the monarchy works is a black hole in our democracy," he said.
Spain's royal family received more than €8m in public money last year, a spokesperson said.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth, the world's best known constitutional monarch, has for several years published accounts for the public funds she and other royals spend, ranging from the cost of flowers to the expense of keeping Buckingham Palace heated. The queen also pays tax on her private income.
'A bunch of layabouts'
Polls show Juan Carlos and his family are popular, although less popular than some years ago.
The king, a big man fond of eating and motorbikes, is especially respected for a television appearance which put an end to an attempted coup when Spain's reborn democracy was just a few years old in 1981.
Glossy magazines reproduce royal photo shoots, but is generally spared the intrusive media scrutiny to which Britain's monarchy is subjected.
Yet not everyone is happy with the monarchy, which was reinstated according to the wish of dictator Francisco Franco when he died in 1975.
In July a senator for the Basque Country, Inaki Anasagasti, called the royal family "a bunch of layabouts" after a judge ordered the seizure of a satirical magazine which printed a cartoon showing Crown Prince Felipe having sex with his wife.
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