Duke of Palma was given 5€ million mortgage on salary of 36,000€

It has been revealed that La Caixa granted Infanta Cristina's husband Iñaki Urdangarín a 5 million euro mortgage in 2004, despite the fact that King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía's son-in-law was only declaring an annual salary of 36,000 euros (a monthly gross salary of 3,000 euros).

According to a report in El País today, the Duke and Duchess of Palma requested the mortgage to buy their 5.8 million euro  palacete in Pedralbes, a 600 square metre mansion with over 2,000 square metres of land in one of Barcelona's most exclusive areas.

The house in Pedralbes was also, until recently, the official address of Urdangarín's company Aizoon SL, but the Duke changed its registered address during the fraud investigations to avoid having it searched by police. The Duke and Duchess lived in Pedralbes until they moved to Washington, and have taken up temporary residence there again whilst preparing to move to more modest rented accommodation.

According to the bank documents, Urdangarin (pictured) had liquid assets to the tune of 1.3 million euros. As well as the annual salary of 36,000 euros, he also declared more than 52,000 euros in return on capital and a further 24,000 euros in share profits.

The year he was granted the mortgage was the same year the Duke and his ex-business partner Diego Torres signed lucrative contracts with the Nóos Institute. The Nóos Institute, officiallly a non-profit making organisation handling sporting events image assessment, was allegedly used to illegally line the pockets of Urdangarín and his ex-partner, who are accused of misappropriating public funds.