Christmas remarks on corruption were not just meant for son-in-law, says king

King Juan Carlos received the longest ovation in memory ahead of his congressional speech inaugurating the new political term on Tuesday. The sustained round of applause was interpreted as show of support for the 73-year-old monarch at a time of distress over reports that his son-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarin, is about to be indicted on charges for diverting public funds and other crimes allegedly perpetrated through a non-profit venture called the Nóos Institute.

In a widely anticipated Christmas Eve speech, the king noted that any censurable act by individuals who bear public responsibilities must be "judged and sanctioned according to the law" and added that "justice is the same for everybody."

But Juan Carlos never specifically mentioned the husband of his youngest daughter Cristina, and on Tuesday, he lamented that the media immediately took these words to be a direct reference to Urdangarin, a former handball Olympic champion who has been relieved of all his royal duties ever since the scandal broke. "One should not personalize, which is what the press sometimes does," he told a group of reporters.

In his speech, Juan Carlos also highlighted the need to find effective answers to the ongoing economic crisis and urged lawmakers to work hard to "restore trust in the institutions," and to be a faithful reflection of what is happening in a society made up mostly of citizens "who do their jobs, live their lives and support their families with honesty, effort and professionalism."