Spain's King Felipe VI (saluting), Queen Letizia (2nd from right) and their daughters Spanish Crown Princess Leonor and Princess Sofia attend Spain's National Day ceremony at the Royal Palace of Madrid. It comes after the Spanish government declared a state of emergency in Madrid to try and halt the spread of coronavirus in one of Europe's most significant outbreaks. Photo: AFP

Spain's leftist government and King Felipe VI have taken steps to boost the transparency of the monarchy, which has been tainted by financial scandals involving senior royals including his father, former monarch Juan Carlos.

Under a decree passed Tuesday by socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government, the royal palace must publish its budget and make tenders public.

The palace accounts must be audited by the supreme Court of Auditors, while senior palace officials will have to declare their personal wealth both when they take up their post and when they leave.

Gifts given to royals will be catalogued before they are transferred to the state, donated to charity, or become property of the royal palace.

The measures, in line with those already in place at public institutions, were developed with the palace in recent months, minister for the presidency Felix Bolanos said.

"This is a very important step forward in the modernization, in the exemplarity of the royal palace... a step forward on transparency," he said.  

The decree was passed a day after the palace unveiled Felipe's personal wealth for the first time, saying it amounted to around 2.6 million euros ($2.8 million).

The bulk of the king's personal wealth takes the form of checking or savings account deposits, with the rest made up of art, antiques and jewelry, the palace said.

His estate stems from his earnings as king, and before that as crown prince, it added.

Felipe ascended the throne in 2014 and set out to restore the monarchy's prestige - after his father Juan Carlos abdicated against a backdrop of scandals over his finances and love life.

He ordered an audit of the royal household's accounts and issued a "code of conduct" for its members.

The following year he stripped his older sister, Princess Cristina, of her title of duchess as she prepared to stand trial on tax fraud charges.

While she was ultimately cleared by the courts, her husband Inaki Urdangarin was convicted of fraud and embezzlement.

Then in 2020, Felipe renounced any future personal inheritance he might receive from his father, and stripped him of his annual allowance of 200,000 euros ($213,000) after fresh details of his allegedly shady dealings emerged.

Months later Juan Carlos, a key figure in Spain's transition to democracy following the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, went into self-imposed exile in the United Arab Emirates.

Spanish prosecutors in March dropped three investigations into the finances of the former king, citing lack of evidence, the statute of limitations and the immunity he enjoyed as head of state. But the prosecutor's office nonetheless said it has detected several "fiscal irregularities" in his affairs.

AFP