Valencia officials grilled about royal consort's public contracts

Three Valencia officials were questioned on Friday in connection with public contracts awarded to a company run by the husband of Princess Cristina, the youngest daughter of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía.

Iñaki Urdangarin's Noos Institute, which was officially a non-profit firm, made 3.7 million euros from the Valencia government between 2003 and 2006 for organizing sports and tourism events. The anticorruption attorney's office is investigating claims that Noos made profits way in excess of the real cost of the fairs.

The deputy mayor of Valencia, Alfonso Grau, was also questioned for over an hour to determine the city's involvement in the case. The other three people are the former directors of the City of Arts and Sciences, Jorge Vela and José Manuel Aguilar, and the director of the municipal tourism foundation, José Salinas.

Noos is suspected of overcharging on its invoices and later channeling money to companies controlled by Urdangarin and his partner Diego Torres, who has been charged with misappropriating public funds.