After photos were published of him holding hands with another woman, the husband of Infanta Cristina of Spain has spoken for the first time. Iñaki Urdangarín repsonded to journalists who were waiting for him outside his workplace first thing in the morning.
Infanta Cristina’s husband chose to only answer two of their questions. Asked by a journalist “How are you?”, Urdangarín replied: “Nothing; things happen and we’re going to manage this the best way possible”. Following several unanswered questions, another journalist asked him: “How is your family? How have they taken the news?”, to which he replied: “Like a difficulty that we will manage with the utmost tranquillity and together, like always”.
Among the questions he avoided answering were many concerning the possibility of separation and divorce from Infanta Cristina.
On January 19th 2022, photos appeared in Lecturas magazine of Urdangarin holding hands with a woman later identified by the Spanish press as Ainhoa Armentia, a colleague from the law firm in Vitoria in northern Spain where Urdangarín currently works. He is on supervised release from jail as he completes a sentence for corruption.
The Spanish Royal Household has not commented on the matter, and, due to the circumstances surrounding the couple, it seems unlikely that they will. Infanta Elena has also declined to comment when she was met by journalists outside her workplace.
Pablo Urdangarín, 21, the second child of Infanta Cristina and Inaki Urdangarin, has offered the most extensive remarks on the subject until now: Approached by journalists after his father had spoken out, he said “I would prefer to not say anything because it is a personal topic and such; but these things happen and we will talk about it ourselves and that’s it”.
Upon being asked if he had spoken with his father or his siblings, he replied: “Yes, everything is okay, truly. We are all tranquil, we are all going to love each other still”. After refusing to comment on whether the family already knew about the pictures, he added that, at the time, he had not spoken to his mother yet, but that he would, and concluded the interview by saying: “And we’re still happy, eh? Nothing will change”, following a remark by the journalist that this must have come as a surprise, seen as though during the Christmas holiday, they were all seen happy together.
Iñaki Urdangarín was sentenced in 2018 to serve a five years and 10 months sentence in the low-security prison of Brieva, in Ávila, following his conviction for embezzlement and politicial corruption in the Noos case. Since June 2021, he enjoys has enjoyed more freedom, as a result of good conduct and the non-violent nature of the crime.
Infanta Cristina was acquitted at trial in February of 2017.
In 2013, the family had moved from Washington D.C., where Iñaki Urdangarín was working for Spanish telecommunications giant Telefónica, to Geneva, Switzerland, where the Infanta had taken up a job at the Caixa Bank Foundation.
Infanta Cristina still resides in Geneva and has not yet offered any comment on the matter.
