The kings are planning a trip to Menorca this Thursday, which will see them in Ciutadella an old pharmacy that they inherited in 2009. This year the businessman died. Juan Ignacio Ballade Llabres, who decided that half of his inheritance, which after paying expenses and debts amounted to about 10 million euros, should go to the then Princes of Asturias and the eight grandchildren of the now retired kings. The other half was bequeathed to a foundation set up by Felipe VI. and his wife had to set up.
This foundation, which is called Hesperia and whose honorary presidents are the monarchs, has taken over the management together with the Insular Council of Menorca Rehabilitation of the Llabrés pharmacy, which was also part of the heritage. The building “is the main reference and one of the few remaining testimonies of modernism in Menorca. The stained glass windows of the old laboratory are the most prized piece of a series of furniture and decorative elements cataloged for their historical value,” Casa Real said in the monarchs’ public agenda, which makes no reference to the heritage. After the inauguration on Thursday, the building will be used “for the foundation’s own activities and workshops” and “for public visits”, adds Zarzuela. In Menorca, the king and queen will also visit Isla del Rey, which lies between the port of Mahón and Es Castell and has become one of the cultural treasures of the region.
King Felipe assured this in 2011 I didn’t know Balada so “it was quite a surprise” when informed of the employer’s decision. The then Prince of Asturias stated that “the usual practice” would have been to renounce the inheritance, but did not do so because the assets passed “to the public coffers of the state of another country”, since Balada left in writing, that if he did not accept the royal family, his fortune would be inherited by Israel. “It seemed to us that this was not the most direct or best way to ensure that the Spaniards benefit from their heritage,” added the monarch in an act held in Menorca in 2011, which saw him and Doña Letizia win 140,000 euros handed over inheritances to create jobs for young people, help the disabled and contribute to research into rare diseases.
The kings completed the distribution of the inheritance in 2105. they distributed 368,050 euros for social purposes and paid 682,544 euros in inheritance tax in the Balearic Islands for the goods received, according to Zarzuela sources. The properties that Felipe VI. and his wife were donated to the Hesperia Foundation and one was sold in 2017 to provide liquidity to the institution. The Balada Palace, owned by the daughters of the kings and the rest of Juan Carlos I’s grandchildren, has not yet been sold. Ciutadella City Council in 2021 asked Casa Real to transfer the building there, to which Zarzuela said no, claiming that until all heirs reach majority, the transfer process would be complicated as it required parental consent and a court approval. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to wait until the grandchildren of kings emeritus turn 18 and decide for themselves.