Balearics gave Urdangarin royal treatment

King Juan Carlos' son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarin, who is the target of a public corruption investigation, got royal treatment from the then-regional head of the Balearic Islands government, his former friend testified in the case.

José Luis "Pepote" Ballester, who served as the Balearics sports chief from 2003 to 2007, said that then-premier Jaume Matas ordered him to approve all of Urdangarin's government contracts, regardless of the price, which amounted to some three million euros.

"I met with Urdangarin in the summer of 2003 eight or nine times to discuss the sponsorship and promotion of the [Illes Balears] cycling team," said Ballester, whose testimony has been seen by EL PAÍS. "Urdangarin gave me a budget that had different figures [...] and Matas told me to approve it." Urdangarin is set to testify in the case for the first time this coming Saturday.

Urdangarin's Nóos Institute was given contracts by both the Balearic and Valencia regional governments to organize sports and tourism conferences. The non-profit entity received some six million euros from the two regions between 2003 and 2006, but prosecutors believe that a lot of the money was diverted to Urdangarin's private companies.

"I never put up any objection to Nóos' prices because it was Matas who agreed to the costs and approved them," Ballester said.

Matas, a former Popular Party (PP) minister, is currently on trial in a wider corruption case involving the mismanagement of public money. Ballester, who had been a close friend of the royal son-in-law until they had a falling out, has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in exchange for his testimony.