[Spain] Royal Family reveals details on their income for the first time

Spain's scandal-hit royals revealed their detailed income for the first time on Wednesday, showing King Juan Carlos received a salary plus expenses of 292,752 euros ($382,600) in 2011.

The 73-year-old king's state grant of 140,519 euros was supplemented by 152,233 euros to cover expenses for official duties, said the accounts, published on the royals' website http://www.casareal.com.

Prince Felipe, 43, who is married to former television news presenter Princess Letizia, had half of that figure, which would be 70,260 euros in a state grant and 76,117 euros in expenses.

All top salaries including those of the royal family were cut by 15 percent in 2010 and frozen in 2011, a palace official said.

By comparison, Spain's former prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero who left office last week had an annual salary of 78,185 euros, far less than the king's.

The publication of the accounts comes as Spain's royal family battles a corruption scandal centred on the king's son in law, 43-year-old former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin.

Judges are investigating alleged corruption involving a charitable organisation formerly run by Urdangarin, husband of the king's youngest daughter Cristina.

He receives no money from the state.

According to the accounts, Queen Sofia, Princess Letizia and the two princesses Cristina and Elena have no fixed sum but receive expenses for official duties, up to a global maximum of 375,000 euros in 2011.

In tough economic times, pressure had been mounting for more openness about the royals' finances.

The overall budget was already public. The royal budget was frozen in 2010 and then cut by 470,000 euros, or 5.2 percent, to 8.43 million euros in 2011. The royals themselves had reportedly proposed the cut.

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Liechtenstein announces 5-year austerity plan

As European countries struggle to rein in public spending in the face of mounting national debt, Liechtenstein's government said Wednesday it too plans budget cuts of $140 million a year.

That's million, not billion.

Still, for a country of just 35,000 people, that amount works out to about $4,000 per inhabitant -- far more than larger countries such as Britain or Germany.

By 2015 the tiny principality hopes to have plugged a budget gap of 15 percent by cutting back on government salaries, health expenditure and pension payments.

The measures will only affect the country's ordinary citizens. Liechtenstein's head of state, Prince Hans Adam II, and his family won't be asked to tighten their belts as they do not receive ANY allowance from the state (as specified in a comment on the comment box).

from businessweek.com

Sofia of Spain uses budget airline to pop over and visit her brother, King Constantine of Greece

It's not the most common mode of transport associated with royalty, but when Queen Sofia of Spain flew into the British capital recently she did so with a £13 ticket on budget airline Ryanair.

The 70-year-old wife of King Juan Carlos boarded one of the low-cost airline's planes in the northern Spanish city of Santander on Sunday evening heading for Essex's Stansted airport. She was making the trip to visit her brother, ex-King Constantine of Greece, who is recovering from heart surgery in a London hospital.

Members of the Spanish royal family – with the exception of the king, who travels on military flights – regularly use scheduled airlines. It's thought it may be the first time a senior member has used a low-cost airline, though.

"Whenever possible the royals use Spanish airlines, but in this case Ryanair was the most suitable option for the journey," a spokesperson at the royal palace confirmed." I believe it may be the first time they have chosen to use Ryanair."

The airline is the only one operating between the British capital and Santander, which the queen was visiting with her husband on Sunday, attending an event linked with the country's Armed Forces day.

Having made the journey up from Stansted to the capital, Sofia, who was born Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark and is second cousin to Prince Charles, was driven to the private Wellington Hospital in St John's Wood to be with her younger brother. Constantine, now 68, was King of Greece from 1964 to 1973, when he was deposed. Since the abolition of the Greek monarchy the former king - who is Prince William's godfather – has lived in the London with his wife Anne-Marie.

Well, people (usually tax payers) blame royal families of spending too much money. Do they focus on the good points and statements they can actually make?