International controversy over alleged tax evasion in a hotel in Máxima Zorreguieta in Patagonia

It happened in 2009, while they were still princes and were interviewed by the construction of an expensive holiday villa in Mozambique that they had to sell a little later. And it has happened again now. Properties located outside the Dutch royal couple keep causing headaches. On this occasion, at the center of an international controversy is an exclusive inn that Maximum Zorreguieta, the queen wife of the Netherlands, owns near the town of Bariloche and that, as it has been revealed in the last hours, I have neither the authorization nor the payment of the corresponding land tax.

"The Pilpilcura stay, located on the banks of the Pichileufu river, 75 kilometers from Bariloche, It extends over some 3000 hectares of the Río Negro plateau. In these lands, inscribed in the name of the Queen of Holland, Máxima Zorreguieta, erected a charming inn of only five rooms. Neither this construction nor other secondary are declared and therefore do not pay property tax. Neither company is registered as a tourist provider in the municipality of Pilcaniyeu, to which belongs the ejido ", reported the last local newspaper Black River.

It all began last Sunday when the news site Rocket to the moon, that the journalist directs Horacio Verbitsky, published an investigation where the alleged escape of Zorreguieta is revealed.

"With its seat in the official seat of the Crown of Holland (located among the 15 greatest fortunes of world royalty), Zorreguieta has owned since 2009 the property of nearly 3,000 hectares on the Pichi Leufú River, 30 km northeast of Bariloche International Airport and 7.5 km east of the Limay River course. Marta Marcela Cerruti Carricart, aunt and godmother of Máxima, is responsible for the five-room inn Pilpilcura holiday approximately 780 square meters approximately undeclared before the state of Rio Negro, as stated in the public register of Cadastre ", had indicated the site.

On its official website, the room is presented as "an intimate hotel with only five rooms on the outskirts of Bariloche, with spectacular views of the river and mountains, surrounded by flower and fruit gardens".

"Excellent Patagonian cuisine, with products from our garden, breakfast with homemade pastries, homemade cakes and natural juices. Warmth, comfort, activities under the sun and personalized attention, make Pilpilcura Ranch the perfect place to enjoy and discover the nature of Patagonia, "he says.

Given the enormous impact of the journalistic revelation, which has been repeated in several Argentine and international media, the Netherlands Embbady in Argentina said in an official statement: "In response to publications on Queen Máxima, the information service of the Dutch Government informs that the Queen Maxima complies with all tax laws of the Argentine Republic. This information has been confirmed by the authorities. "

In recent hours, the scandal has continued and reached the higher echelons of Dutch politics.

As reported The country from Spain, "the Social Democrat Party has asked the center-right government for explanations on the so-called tax crime committed by the Queen consort in Argentina, her homeland".

"The Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, responding to the actions of the rulers, and its news service said tonight that "Queen Máxima respects the tax laws and regulations in force in Argentina, as confirmed by the competent authorities," said the Spanish media.

In Patagonia, the investigation that took place in the last few hours on the Dutch royal crown also had repercussions.

The steward of the city of Pilcaniyeu in Rio Negro, Néstor Ayuelef, said that the Zorreguieta, "have" never "proceeded to a" commercial authorization as a tourist accommodation "of a complex in the ranch of Pilpilcura, after which he questioned the payment of respective taxes for this activity, according to the agency Telam.

"The hotel is working with tourists, we know it, but they have never come here to carry out the commercial authorization process as tourist accommodation, so that they can not not pay taxes that affect the business, they should be clbadified as monotributists, "Ayuelef said.

On this situation, the commune chief warned: "I would need a lot more employees to control what is built in the fields and I do not have that budget."

In turn, the president of the Front Río Negro Grande, Julio Acavallo, today asked the provincial tax collection agency to conduct an investigation into the fiscal situation of Zorreguieta.

At the end of 2016, who visited the ranch that is today at the heart of the controversy was Argentine President Mauricio Macri himself.

"President Mauricio Macri, his wife Juliana Awada and their daughter Antonia visited Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and her family on the Pipilcura ranch, a hundred kilometers west of Bariloche," he declared. December 30, 2016, the Telam agency.

"The Macri family has approached today at 2:45 pm the presidential helicopter installed in the Villa La Angostura, in the country of Cumelén, where it has been resting since last Sunday.A direct flight arrived at Pipilcura, where Máxima Zorreguieta was waiting for them with King Guillermo of Orange and his three daughters, "said the official agency.