Spain: Sisters of King Felipe VI. Criticized for premature corona vaccination

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Infants Elena (left) and Cristina with father Juan Carlos I. (archive photo)

Photo: EMILIO NARANJO / AFP

The Spanish royal family is currently in a difficult position. Old King Juan Carlos I is threatened with legal proceedings for alleged tax evasion, the 83-year-old has been living in exile in the desert emirate of Abu Dhabi for months.

Now his two daughters are causing outrage.

According to a report in the digital newspaper »El Confidencial«, the Infanta Elena and Cristina, 57 and 55 years old, were vaccinated against the coronavirus early in February when their father visited the emirate.

Several ministers of the left government coalition attacked the sisters of King Felipe VI.

violently because both would not have been eligible for a vaccination in Spain.

Minister of Labor calls behavior "repulsive"

The economics minister Nadia Calviño, who is considered to be rather conservative, said, for example, that “public relatives” like the royals in particular had to “respect the protocols” in the pandemic.

The Minister of Labor Yolanda Díaz described the behavior of the infants as "repulsive" and pointed out that in Spain many members of the medical staff had not yet been vaccinated "and still work for us every day".

In a letter to various media, Elena had recently confirmed her vaccination and justified her behavior.

She and her sister had "accepted" the "offer" of a vaccination in Abu Dhabi in order to "get a health passport" that would allow them to visit Juan Carlos I regularly.

The royal family did not want to comment on request.

The newspaper El Mundo quoted a spokesman for the Casa Real as saying that Felipe was "not responsible" for the behavior of his sisters.

The 53-year-old monarch, who succeeded Juan Carlos I in 2014, his wife Letizia and their two daughters, Crown Princess Leonor and Sofía, have not yet been vaccinated.

According to the media, they want to wait their respective age group's turn.

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