ROYAL FORUM: Spain's Royal Family Cut Budget For First Time In History

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ROYAL FORUM: Spain's Royal Family Cut Budget For First Time In History
by Darius Kadivar
04-Dec-2010
 




The Spanish Royal family is to cut its budget for the first time in history as part of nationwide austerity measures that will see it become the least expensive royal household in Europe.


The King and Queen will be tightening their belts alongside the rest of nation as Spain struggles to reduce a bloated budget deficit and emerge from nearly two years of recession. 

The Zarzuela Palace has announced that the household budget for 2011 would be significantly reduced from this year but the exact figures would not be unveiled until later this month when it will be presented to parliament for approval.

Reports suggested the budget could be slashed by up to 9 per cent reducing funds available to the King by as much as €800,000 (£669,000), making him the least expensive Royal in Europe.

Up Close and Personal Insight Into Spain's Royal Family ( Spanish Documentary):

King Juan Carlos, Queen Sophia, Prince Felipe and Infanta's of Spain - A humane vision

 


This year the budget was frozen at the 2009 level of €8.9 million (£7.43), a figure well below that of Britain's Royal family cost the taxpayer a total of £38.2 million last financial year.

A comparative study of expenditure by Europe's constitutional monarchies puts the Windsors at the top of the list, followed by the Dutch monarchy on £33.1 million, the Norwegian on £23.4 million and the Belgian on £11.5 million.

With the proposed cuts Spain's royal family would have a budget of £6.8 million less than even the Luxembourg monarchy who last year spent £7.2 million.

Spain's Royal Household has already scaled down with a series of economies. Its 140 members of staff joined the rest of the nation's civil servants in having their salaries cut by five per cent in June as part of a government austerity plan that also froze pensions.

This August King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia shortened their annual holiday at their summer palace on the island of Majorca, spent less time sailing on the royal yacht Fortuna, and entertained fewer guests.

Last year Queen Sofia shocked royal watchers when she chose to fly with budget airline RyanAir to visit her brother Constantine, the former King of Greece, after he had heart surgery in London. The flight from the northern Spanish city of Santander to London Stansted cost only £13.

During a Military parade in her honor, Queen Sophia positively responds to a Spanish woman's unexpected request :

 

 

But parliamentary rules in Spain mean that the King does not have to account for how he spends his budget.

"Spain is one of the least transparent of all the monarchies when it comes to spending," explained Herman Matthijs, professor at Belgium's VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussels), who carried out an exhaustive study of the expenditures of Europe's royal households.

"The annual budget given to the King Juan Carlos is for him to spend and distribute to the members of his family as he sees fit. State visits, royal protection and the upkeep of royal palaces all come from budgets hidden within other departments," he said.

"I can't see that it will cause the Spanish King too much hardship to survive on a little bit less but it will send a positive message to the people of Spain that he is making sacrifices along with everyone else."

COMPARATIVE ANNUAL BUDGETS:

Britain €48.6m (£40.6m)

Netherlands €39.6m (£33.1m)

Norway €28m (£23.4m)

Belgium €13.7m euros (£11.5m)

Denmark €12.6m euros (£10.5m)

Sweden €12.2m euros (£10.2m)

Spain €8.9m euros (£7.43m)

Luxembourg €8.7m euros (£7.2m)

 

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Spain jobless passes five million

by Darius Kadivar on

Spain jobless passes five million (bbc)

 


Spain's unemployment figure passed the five million mark in the last quarter of 2011, official figures show.

The National Statistics Institute said 5.3 million people were out of work at the end of December, up from 4.9 million in the third quarter.

The rate rose from 21.5% in the third quarter to 22.8% - the highest rate in nearly 17 years.

Spain already has the highest jobless rate in the 17-nation eurozone and is expected to slide back into recession.

The figure is below the 5.4 million estimated by the Spanish finance minister on Thursday.

Spain's new ruling Popular Party conservative government has pledged labour reforms to try to halt further unemployment. 


Darius Kadivar

Spain's royal family reveals finances for the First time

by Darius Kadivar on


Spain royal family reveals wages (bbc)

   


Spain's royal family have published their finances for the first time.

King Juan Carlos is paid 292,752 euros (£243,560) annually by the state, the royal accounts reveal.

The king pays 40% tax on his income. He gets 140,519 euros as salary and the rest is for expenses.

Crown Prince Felipe gets 146,376 euros. Queen Sofia and the three princesses get 375,000 euros between them. The total budget for the royal family was 8.4m euros in 2011.

The Spanish royal household has a staff of about 500, and just over 4m euros out of the 8.4m total was spent on them.

The Spanish news website ABC said the family did not disclose how much was spent on clothes, hair styling or other personal items.

The release of royal budget figures on Wednesday was in the spirit of transparency and modern times, the palace said. 


Darius Kadivar

No comment ... ;0)

by Darius Kadivar on


Roozbeh_Gilani

Looking forward to Iranian Royals, Khamenei & "vali ahd mojtaba"

by Roozbeh_Gilani on

Also following suit and divert some of the stolen oil money destined for their  London and Zurich bank accounts, to 40 million plus Iranains living under the islamist regime's own declared poverty line. 

"Personal business must yield to collective interest."


Sargord Pirouz

Republican

by Sargord Pirouz on

Don't bank on it. Reza's mom is still driving around in a 90's Mercedes-Benz. It ain't even armored. My guess is they've squandered a major portion of the loot they sporited away from the people of Iran back in '79. Which would hardly be surprising; they're a bunch of good for nothings. 


Darius Kadivar

Just a Figure of Comparison with L'Oreal Heiress' Fortune

by Darius Kadivar on


The Annual Budget of the Entire European Royal Families amounts to 172, 300, 000 euros for the year 2010.  

That represents Only 17, 23 % of the One Billion Euros Gifts given by L'Oreal Tycoon Liliane Bettencourt to lamboyant photographer François-Marie Banier:


L'Orealfamily feud over one billion euro gifts heads to court (France 24)


France's wealthiest woman L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt

 

I leave it to your imagination to evaluate this lady's Entire Fortune if she can afford throwing away a BILLION EUROS as a GIFT to her Lover ... 

 

Given the above example (to which one could add other Non royals like the Madoffs) If the word "Useless" were to be given to anyone or any institution, it could hardly be applied to Europe's Royals or the monarchy... and even less to the Pahlavis ...

 

 

About the Bettencourt Affair:

 


France's wealthiest woman, Liliane Bettencourt, 87, is at the centre of a political storm after secret recordings made by her ex-butler over her tax situation were leaked in June, embroiling French Labour Minister Eric Woerth and his wife.

 

The "Bettencourt Affair" took a new turn on Tuesday when President Nicolas Sarkozy denied allegations by Bettencourt's former bookkeeper that his party had received illegal campaign donations in cash from the billionaire and her late husband.

Asked what she thought of the turn of events, Bettencourt told a television interview on July 2: "One can only accept it. This is a republic."


Bettencourt's lawyer has not commented on the allegations. 

 


 



Republican جمهوریخواه

Celos

by Republican جمهوریخواه on

Now is the best time for Reza and his mom to get even with these useless restored Spaniards by sending a much more expensive wedding gift to Willy and Kate.