Iñaki Urdangarin, the former Duke of Palma, is starting to enjoy his parole and gave an interview to Spanish journalist Juanma Castaño, where he confessed, among other things, how he managed to cope with the years he spent in prison, his return to the sports world and his children, especially Pablo, who is firmly following in his footsteps in sports.
‘El partidazo’ was the space chosen by the future ex-husband of the Infanta Cristina to talk about several topics related to his life, although the most expected by all, that of Ainhoa Armentia, did not come up.
Statements by Iñaki Urdangarin to Juanma Castaño
The former brother-in-law of King Felipe touched on his past but focused more on his future and it was inevitable that he talked about the time he spent in jail, after receiving the sentence of 5 years and 10 months for the Nóos case. At least more than two years were spent in Brieva prison (Ávila).
He confessed that the hardest part of the confinement is the loneliness, his experience was “very hard because of the circumstances I lived in solitude”. He said that he managed to get through the days thanks to sports and reading, since he read 168 books.
“The sport somehow kept me well, it allowed me to have a good life routine,” he added and then went on to talk about his plans.
“I want to look ahead and in this sense returning to sport and management would be one of my goals. I have always felt very well in the world of sport. Handball has been my second family. If not in sport, as I have also been linked to business, business management,” he said.
The former Duke of Palma wants to close that episode in his life and overcome the past.
“The truth is that I prefer it to be a stage that is behind me. I would not like to uncover issues from my past in a sports program. It is a stage of my life that I have closed with very good behavior. I have been paroled in an extraordinary time for good behavior. I want to leave it in the past.
Iñaki talked about his son Pablo Urdangarin
He was full of praise for his son Pablo, who hopes to be a great athlete like his father.
“I am very proud of what he is doing, his training period has not been easy. We have lived in countries where there was not much handball, which was what he liked. It has been hard because she has had to go to camps to refresh her technique. Her competition this year has been very good for how little she has competed before. I’m very proud of what she’s achieving, regardless of where she’s going.
At the moment, Iñaki has many plans for the new stage of his life, he is in practice to get the title of handball coach and hopes to return to the world of sport or business management as he himself confessed at the same time to reinvent himself to “restart”.
“The illusion I have is to reinvent myself, to start up again. I am a fairly young person and now we have to take the course of our ship. You can only look forward, living day by day, and I’m going to try to do better every day,” he said.
