Royal family misfortunes

KING JUAN CARLOS abdicated a year ago in favour of his son Felipe for several reasons. Prominent amongst them was his daughter Cristina whose husband Iñaki Urdangarin is charged with fiscal fraud and siphoning off public money. Cristina is accused of having some knowledge of what went on but protests that she is being victimised because of who she is.
The couple now live in Switzerland and Felipe VI recently stripped Cristina of her title of Duchess of Palma de Mallorca. Determined to have the last word in what is more than a family quarrel, she claimed to have renounced the title before her brother took it away. This is clearly untrue as the letter, although dated earlier, was emailed after the public announcement.
If Cristina dissembled about the letter, then it’s beginning to look likely that she could have been economical with the truth in other respects, too.

Real option

MINORITY parties Ciudadanos and Podemos wield a lot of clout but both must live with recent decisions that shored up some parties to form local and regional governments and undermined others. They’ll have to decide before the general elections later this year whether they want to make it as genuine government options or continue to act as red-cardwaving referees.

Thrill over

SOME local councils and regional parliaments are in power thanks to double and triple alliances. Sighs of relief can still be heard in town halls and Spain’s regional parliaments, but what will happen when the thrill of the partnerships and threesomes begins to pall and the squabbles start?