The Adix, Jessica as was, when it was launched in 1984.

The Adix, Jessica as was, when it was launched in 1984. | Astilleros de Mallorca

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma22/01/2020 04:01
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Jaime Botin, brother of the former president of Banco Santander, Emilio Botín, has been sentenced to eighteen months in jail and been fined 52 million euros for having smuggled a cultural asset out of Spain. This was Picasso's painting, "Cabeza de mujer joven". The painting, valued at 26 million euros, was sent by plane for sale in Switzerland in 2015. Prior to this, it had been on Botín's yacht, Adix.

Built at Astilleros de Mallorca in Palma in the 1980s, the yacht was originally named Jessica. It was the largest and last sailboat to be built in Majorca. Considered to be one of the ten largest private sailboats in the world, it was built with the assistance of master shipwrights, who took care of its wooden structure and teak decks.

Almost 65 metres long, the original idea had been for the yacht to be used for training. However, it was sold to the Argentine Carlos Perdomo for 350 million pesetas and was a feature of Majorca's nautical and social life in the 1980s; the former king, Juan Carlos, was among the illustrious guests who were invited on board.

The Australian Alan Bond bought it for a thousand million pesetas in 1988 and then resold it the following year to Botín, at which point the name changed; Bond had actually called it XXXX as a promotional means for his brewing interests (Castlemaine 4X).

The sentence passed on Botín is subject to appeal. The state attorney had called for the yacht to become public property, but the court rejected this. The painting, meanwhile, was returned to Spain in 2015 and is now at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid.