Overview

• The Spanish Supreme Court has definitively dismissed a popular action complaint alleging tax fraud by former King Juan Carlos I.
• The court ruled that the accusations are either time-barred, regularized under Spanish tax law, or below the legal threshold for criminal tax fraud.
• This decision aligns with the Public Prosecutor's 2022 findings, which concluded that no criminal conduct occurred and investigations should remain closed.
• The complaint, filed by retired jurists and intellectuals, accused the former king of undeclared income through opaque foundations such as Zagatka and Lucum.
• The ruling emphasized that popular action cannot override prosecutorial discretion or reopen cases without substantive new evidence.