Three of Spain’s largest firms paid an alleged lover of former King Juan Carlos £4.6million to keep evidence of their affair secret, according to the leaked diaries of a disgraced police commissioner.
Repsol, Santander and Telefonica each paid £1.8million in installments starting in the late 1990s to the country’s security service which then passed the money to model and Miss World contestant Barbara Rey, the diaries allege.
The money changed hands after José María Aznar, Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2006, met with Repsol boss Ramón Blanco Balín and asked him to transfer the funds while assuring him the other firms were also paying up, the diary says.
The pages were uncovered after Emilio Alonso Manglano, the former head of Spain’s security service, alleged in his memoirs that Ms Rey had video tapes of her and King Carlos together and had received large sums of money to keep them secret.
Ms. Rey, a model and actress, denies ever having received money from Juan Carlos. None of those companies mentioned in the diary have responded.
Barbara Rey (left in 1970, right in 1980) was allegedly paid £4.6m by Spain’s three largest companies starting in the late 90s in order to keep an affair with then-King Juan Carlos a secret
Juan Carlos, the abdicator of the throne, now lives in Abu Dhabi, in self-imposed exile, while facing trials for corruption at home. Juan Carlos previously denied wrongdoing, and stated that he would speak to prosecutors.
The diary entries were allegedly penned by José Manuel Villarejo, an undercover cop who is accused of being a ‘state fixer’ and is currently facing dozens of trials.
Spanish newspaper El Periodico claims to have tracked down the pages, dated from September 2015, after claims that Rey had ‘blackmailed’ Juan Carlos featured in a recent book by two Spanish journalists and were last week discussed on TV.
On September 27, Villarejo is said to have detailed a meeting he had with Balín – a prominent businessman – in which Balin confessed to the payments.
Juan Carlos was alleged to be a serial adulterer. One author claims that he may have had as many as 5,000 mistresses.
Villarejo says that Balin told him he was approached by Aznar – a friend from his time working as State Finance Inspector – and told to make six annual payments from Repsol, an energy and pharmaceutical giant, that would total £1.8million.
‘[Repsol]Donated the money to CESID [the old name for Spain’s security service]And they gave to the artist. El Periodico quotes El Periodico’s diary as reading.
Balin was told that Telefonica (one of the largest phone operators in the world) and Santander (one of the largest banks in the world), would make similar payments according to diaries.
While Balin did not state what the payments were for, the diary entry was only tracked down after Alberto Saiz Cortés – head of Spain’s modern-day secret service CNI – accused Rey of ‘blackmailing’ Carlos over an alleged affair.
Cortés spoke about the allegation on Spanish TV show Salvados last week, during which he said the payments ‘could have come from “external donors” and not directly from public money.’
He also claimed that Rey was given preferential treatment for contracts on Valencian TV shows and other publicity in exchange for her silence.
Cortes is not the only Spanish Secret Service boss to claim the affair occurred, nor was Rey paid for keeping silent.
Emilio Alonso Manglano Manglano, the chief of the service between 1981 and 1995, stated in his memoirs (published in October by two Spanish journalist) that Rey was given large amounts of money for not disclosing their affair with the King.
Rey also claimed that Rey recorded the couple engaging in sex acts using videotapes. These were captured with three hidden cameras located at Rey’s home.
‘[There are] hidden cameras in the dining room and two more in the bedroom. You can hear everything,’ Manglano recalled telling colleagues at the time.
Ms Rey (left and right in 1974) has admitted to having an affair with a ‘senior figure from the state’, but has never publicly named Juan Carlos as that man
Juan Carlos’s reign came to an abrupt halt in 2014, when Corinna Larson became public. His son King Felipe succeeded him and he abdicated.
She is now aged 71. Ms Rey won Miss Spain 1970 runner-up. But she got the opportunity to represent Miss World in the next year, after Spain’s best-place finisher withdrew.
Competing under her original name Maria Garcia, she finished in the top 15 behind Brazil’s Lúcia Petterle in first place with the UK’s Marilyn Ann Ward runner-up.
Her big break came four years later, when she was cast in TV show Palmarés which established her as a sex symbol. Her career included roles in theatres, revenue shows, TV and, later, starring in erotica films.
In 1980 she married a circus lion tamer, Ángel Cristo, with whom she has two children. They divorced in 1998.
Juan Carlos and her relationship with her are not known. However, it is speculated that the affair occurred between late 1980s to early-to mid 1990s.
She has never admitted that Juan Carlos, now 83, was her lover – but has confessed that she had an affair with a ‘senior figure from the state’.
In 1997, her house was burgled and she claims that documents, negatives and video tape was stolen which could compromise ‘important people’.
Juan Carlos I, King of Spain, reigned from 1975 until 2014, when Felipe VI took his place. His wife Sofia of 75 years has given him three children.
Jose Manuel Villarejo (a former state police commissioner who was also alleged to have been a fixer of the state) is currently facing trial for the allegations regarding payments.
Juan Carlos (right), now lives with Sofia in Abu Dhabi, after Felipe (left) and Letizia (right) took the throne.
An author and military historian claims that he was a serial adulterer.
Carlos was said to have taken a liking to Princess Diana when she vacationed at Charles’ Majorca Palace in 1986. In fact, the princess once stated that Charles could sometimes be too attentive at meetings.
During a recent trial, Villarejo even went so far as to claim that secret service agents had injected the King with female hormones to try and curb his sexual appetites.
Corinna Larsen, Corinna Danish-German Philanthropist, Sara Montiel the Spanish Singer, Liliane Sartiau the Belgian Governor and Maria Gabriela de Saboya from Italy are just a few of the many women that he is said to have married.
His reign ended in disgrace in 2014 when his relationship with Ms Larson – real name Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein – was made public.
After Swiss prosecutors opened an inquiry into accounts held by the accused in tax havens and he left Spain, the 83 year-old fled to Abu Dhabi.
Juan Carlos denied wrongdoing. He has stated that he will be interviewed by prosecutors if necessary.