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03 March 2021Bufera in Spain on the sisters of King Felipe VI: Elena and Cristina, according to the newspapers El confidencial and El mundo, have been vaccinated against covid during a visit to their father Juan Carlos, who has lived in the United Arab Emirates since August last.
Elena, 57, and Cristina, 55, are not considered part of the categories that have priority in vaccination in Spain and the news provoked indignant reactions from members of the government, formed by the socialist party and Unidas podemos: Miquel Iceta, minister of territorial policies, he said that conducts of this type cause "mistrust" in the institutions.
Cristina is resident in Switzerland, her sister Elena in Spain.
Right-wingers defended the two women's decision not to respect the vaccination priority at home.
"They have not taken the vaccine off anyone in Spain," said José Luis Martinez-Almeida, spokesman for the People's Party and mayor of Madrid.
The Royal House has neither confirmed nor denied, adding that members of the current royal family - made up of Felipe VI, his wife Letizia and daughters Leonor and Sofia - have not yet been vaccinated and will wait their turn.
"The king is not responsible for the actions of the sisters," said sources close to the monarch.
83-year-old Juan Carlos, king of Spain from 1975 to 2014, has already been vaccinated in the Arab Emirates, according to Iberian media.
Juan Carlos left the country last summer after being embroiled in a scandal over alleged illegal tax operations abroad.
The former king has returned more than 4.5 million euros of unpaid taxes to the tax authorities and is under investigation by the Spanish and Swiss judiciary.
Cristina at the time was at the center of a scandal for the crimes committed by her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, currently in semi-release after a sentence of more than five years for corruption, while the sister of King Felipe was acquitted of the accusation of having participated in the affairs offenses of the spouse.