Iñaki Urdangarin, Duke of Palma de Mallorca
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Iñaki Urdangarín Liebaert, Duke of Palma de Mallorca (born 15 January 1968) is a prominent retired handball player. He is the husband of the Infanta Cristina, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca, the youngest daughter of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía of Spain.
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[edit] Personal life
Urdangarín is the son of Juan María Urdangarín Berriochoa (b. Zumarraga, 19 September 1932), of Spanish Basque, and Belgian (both Walloon and Flemish) descent and wife Claire Liebaert Courtain (b. ca. 1945). He has spent almost all his life in Barcelona. He has an older brother named Miguel (Mikel) Urdangarín Liebaert (born in 1967), and five sisters, Ana, Clara, Cristina, Laura and Lucía. His paternal grandparents Laureano de Urdangarín y Larrañaga (1898–1982) and wife Ana de Berriochoa y Elgarresta (1902–1996) came from Basque minor nobility.
[edit] Sports career
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men’s handball | ||
| Bronze | 1996 Atlanta | Team Competition |
| Bronze | 2000 Sydney | Team Competition |
At the age of 18, he became a professional handball player with FC Barcelona, where he remained until his retirement in 2000. He became Spain's most successful handball player, winning more than forty trophies. Meanwhile, he studied at the Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas (ESADE) in Barcelona, from which he received a master's degree in business administration.
As a member of the Spanish handball team, he participated in the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Summer Olympics, serving as team captain in 2000.
[edit] Marriage and children
It was at the 1996 games in Atlanta that he met the Infanta Cristina, whom he married in Barcelona on 4 October 1997. They have four children, all born in Barcelona:
- Juan Valentín de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón (born 29 September 1999)
- Pablo Nicolás Sebastián de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón (born 6 December 2000)
- Miguel de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón (born 30 April 2002)
- Irene de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón (born 5 June 2005)
They lived in Barcelona until 2009, where Urdangarín was director of planning and development for Motorpress Ibérica and a founding partner of Nóos Consultoría Estratégica. Since then they have lived in Washington DC, where he works for Telefónica.
He has been a member of the Spanish Olympic Committee since 4 April 2001, and was elected first deputy chairman on 16 February 2004. In 2001, the Duke of Palma received the Grand Cross of the Spanish Royal Order of the Sports Merit (Real Orden del Mérito Deportivo).[1]
[edit] Corruption and money laundering scandal
In November 2011, Urdangarín was accused of diverting public funds for his own profit through the Nóos institute in the 'Palma Arena' case.[2] Searches were conducted at the Nóos institute by the Spanish Anticorruption bureau.[3] The daily El País has released a suspicious budget document for one international event that was organized by the aforementioned institute which was managed by Urdangarín at that time.[4] It is believed that he persuaded various Spanish public administrations (mostly regional governments) to sign agreements with his company, the Nóos Institute (which was supposed to be a non-profit organization) for both works that were never done, and works that were dramatically overbudgeted up to €5,800,000 from public Administrations.[5]
In December 2011, the Anticorruption bureau confirmed that Urdangarin had been sending important sums of public money to tax havens in Belize and the UK.
Also in December 2011, the Casa del Rey of Spain announced that it had decided that the Duke of Palma was not going to participate in any official Royal Family activity for the foreseeable future, as a result of the Instituto Nóos scandal.[6] In the King's Christmas speech on 24 December 2011, King Juan Carlos stated that "La justicia es igual para todos" ("Justice is the same for everyone"), suggesting a strong reference to Urdangarin although the following day he backtracked to say he was speaking generically.[7]
On 6 February 2012, Urdangarin has to appear before a judge over the allegations of corruption.[8] He is being charged alongside 14 other defendants, including Jaume Matas, former premier of the Balearics[9].
[edit] Titles and styles
- 15 January 1968-4 October 1997: Iñaki Urdangarín Liebaert
- 4 October 1997-: The Most Excellent The Duke of Palma de Mallorca
In view of contradictory Spanish legislation enacted over the past 30 years it is not entirely clear if Urdangarín is, except by social convention, entitled to be considered a Duke.[10]
| Royal styles of The Duke of Palma de Mallorca |
|
|---|---|
.svg) |
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| Reference style | His Excellency |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Alternative style | Sir |
[edit] References
- ^ (Spanish) Royal Decree 1369/2001 The Duke of Palma member of the Royal Order of the Sports Merit.).
- ^ (Spanish) Iñaki Urdangarin is involved in the 'Palma Arena' case
- ^ (Spanish) Anticorrupción registra la fundación de Iñaki Urdangarin
- ^ (Spanish) http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2011/11/09/actualidad/1320868088_382205.html
- ^ (Spanish) Los gestores de Nóos facturaron al Instituto 1.700.000 euros cuando ya no funcionaba
- ^ http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2011/12/12/espana/1323686462.html
- ^ http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/01/more_of_london_from_above_at_n.html
- ^ Spanish duke Inaki Urdangarin to appear before judge - website BBC News
- ^ http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/672a39dc-3225-11e1-9be2-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1iJJFbij3
- ^ Duchy Original: The Palma title at home and abroad
Enlace señala noticias polemicas
[edit] External links
- 1968 births
- Living people
- Handball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Handball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Spanish handball players
- Olympic handball players of Spain
- Spanish people of Belgian descent
- Spanish people of Flemish descent
- Olympic bronze medalists for Spain
- FC Barcelona handball players
- Basque sportspeople
- ESADE alumni
- Dukes of Palma de Mallorca
- Olympic medalists in handball
