Iñaki Urdangarín Liebaert is the sixth child of
Juan María Urdangarín Berriochoa and Claire Liebaert
Courtain.
He was born in Zumárraga, Guipúzcoa on January 15,
1968. Soon after his birth, his family moved to Barcelona, where
he resided until he turned 16. From then he moved to Vitoria where
he lived until he was 18. At age 18 he then returned to Barcelona.
This is where the Duke of Palma de Mallorca resides at the present
time.
He studied at the Colegio Sagrado Corazón de Jesús
de Caspe in Barcelona and at Colegio Santa María del Pilar
in Vitoria, where he first started playing handball. At the age
of 18 he started his professional carreer with F.C. Barcelona, the
club he remained loyal to until his farewell to handball in September
2000.
His sports file contains numerous trophies won by his club, the
F.C. Barcelona, and its presence in the national selection of handball,
of which he was part of on 170 occasions and has participated in
the Olympic Games of Barcelona '92, Atlanta '96 and Sidney 2000
- obtaining the bronze medal in the last two - as well as in Championships
of the World, of Europe and in other international competitions.
He has balanced his profession of handball player with his university
studies. He is a Graduate in Enterprise Sciences by the Central
University of Barcelona. At the present time he studies for a degree
in Administration and Direction of Companies and Masters in Business
Administration in ESADE
On October 4, 1997 he married princess Cristina of Spain in the
Cathedral Basilica of Barcelona, who he met during Atlanta Olympics
in 1996.
They have three children, Juan Valentín de Todos los Santos,
who was born on 29th of September 1999, Pablo Nicolás, born
on 6th of December 2000, and Miguel, born on 30th of April 2002,
all three in Barcelona. |