Infanta Cristina’s husband out on parole

Infanta Cristina’s husband, Iñaki Urdangarín, has been granted parole and will now be able to enjoy conditions that are still undisclosed. 

Urgandarín was granted this privilege after successful participation in the Intervention Program for Economic Crimes (Programa de Intervención en Delitos Económicos, or PIDEco in Spanish) last October. 

The former royal has experienced a fast lightening of his sentence conditions over the past year and a half and can now sleep at home, and only be subjected to unexpected visits from the Spanish equivalent of a parole officer. 

He will undoubtedly be happy about this newest evolution of his sentence since this has already allowed him to be a more active presence in the life of the four children he shares with Infanta Cristina. 

In particular, he was seen on 5 March at the Blaugrana Stadium in Barcelona with his second child Pablo for the match to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Barcelona handball team. 

The family is trying to navigate difficult times, as Urgandarín has recently been in the middle of a media storm after a Spanish magazine published pictures of him holding hands with a woman that was later identified as Ainhoa Armentia, a coworker. 

Since the pictures came to light, Infanta Cristina and Urgandarín have released a short statement announcing the “interruption of our marital relationship,” and King Felipe’s sister has kept a very low profile. 

Urgandarín, on the other hand, has been photographed out and about, both with his children and with Ms Armentia, before the announcement came, on 2 March, that a Basque County judge had granted him “conditional freedom” with undisclosed caveats. 

Until this sentence, he had enjoyed the so-called “light third grade,” meaning that he didn’t have to sleep in the penitentiary and was under telematic control via computer and phone, so he didn’t have to wear an electronic bracelet.