Royal expense sheets to be available online for public scrutiny

For the first time, the Royal Household will make available for public inspection precise details of all of the expenditures incurred by King Juan Carlos and his family after the monarchy agreed to be included in the government's Transparency Law.

This means that expenditures for trips taken by the royal family, security and palace maintenance will be detailed on the Zarzuela royal family's website, which since 2011 has been publicizing how much money it has been receiving from the public coffers but without detailing any budgetary items or expenses.

The Popular Party administration has been working with palace officials to put the royal family's spending under public scrutiny during a period of intense public pressure following a series of scandals that have rocked the monarchy — the latest being a court subpoena issued for Princess Cristina to testify in her husband's Nóos Institute inquiry. The case prosecutor has appealed against the move.

According to the information posted on the Zarzuela website, Spain's royal family has one of the lowest public allowances compared to other crown heads of Europe. This year's annual public funding for the king and his family was cut to 7.9 million from 8.2 million in 2012. But the figures are not precise because they do not include money spent on official trips, which comes from the Foreign Ministry; security, which is assumed by the Interior Ministry; and palace maintenance, which is taken from the government's National Heritage fund.