Did the US pay for Michelle Obama's vacation?

It sounded simple enough: a mother-daughter getaway during the dogs days of August. But it's not so simple when Mom is the first lady of the United States and the trip is to a luxury resort on Spain's Costa del Sol. During tough economic times at home.( AP Photo)

Michelle Obama's five-day trip to the south of Spain with daughter Sasha touched off a mini-firestorm stoked by questions about the wisdom of such a glamorous trip and over-the-top speculation about who was footing the bill and how many friends were along for the ride. In the photo…U.S. first lady Michelle Obama, center walks in the Casa del Rey Moro during a visit to Ronda in southern Spain.( AP Photo)

Suddenly, the popular first lady was being compared to Marie Antoinette and labeled a "material girl" sponging off taxpayers. A day after her Air Force plane returned home, the White House and its defenders still were trying to tamp down the flames Monday. In the photo…US first lady Michelle Obama, center, walks down a street as she visits Marbella, in southern Spain. ( AP Photo)

Obama aides scurried to fact-check over-the-top speculation about trip: The first lady traveled with a "minimal" number of friends, not 40, though no exact number was given. And so on. In the photo…U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, center left walks during a visit to Ronda in southern Spain. She was on a private trip to Spain with friends.( AP Photo)

According to the aides….the friends got to Spain on their own, not flying on government aircraft. Mrs. Obama and her friends paid for their own meals and hotel rooms. She did not attend a fancy gala. In the photo….Actress Eva Longoria looks at a Spiderman comic that she received from a journalist who gave it to her to give to Michelle Obama prior to the Starlight Charity Gala at the Villa Padierna Hotel in Marbella, Spain, Saturday Aug. 7, 2010. (AP Photo)

But the first lady does travel with Secret Service protection — at taxpayer expense, cost unannounced. In the photo….Security officers escort a convoy of cars transporting U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, on arrival at the Villa Padierna Hotel in Marbella, southern Spain on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010.( AP Photo)

— and the expense of flying her military jet to Europe and back must have been considerable.(AP Photo)

Her entourage did book 60 rooms at one posh hotel, where the average room price is about $660, and claimed more rooms elsewhere. In the photo….View of the hotel Villa Padierna where First Lady Michelle Obama and daughter Sasha stayed.(AP Photo)

U.S. secret service agents guard the perimeter where U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and daughter Sasha stay at the Beach Club of Villa Padierna Hotel in Marbella, southern Spain, on Friday, Aug. 6, 2010. Spanish police used palm trees, right, to mark off the boundaries of a 100-meter (100-yard) expanse for the American delegation. (AP Photo)

And police did shut down a 100-meter section of Mediterranean beach for the Obamas during a Friday visit to Estepona. In a time of nearly double-digit unemployment and economic uncertainty, that sounded more than a little off-key to many in the U.S. In the photo.. Police officers keep onlookers away from the site where U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and daughter Sasha stay at the Beach Club of Villa Padierna Hotel in Marbella, southern Spain, on Friday, Aug. 6, 2010. (AP Photo)

Although the White House seemed blindsided by the criticism, perhaps it shouldn't have been a surprise. "Obviously, this was a risk," said Anita McBride, who served as chief of staff to former first lady Laura Bush. "The more expensive a trip, the more criticism it invites. And yet that has to be balanced against the fact that the first lady, like anybody else, is in need of a vacation and a change of scenery."( AP Photo)

Longtime presidential friend Marty Nesbitt said in an interview that the idea for the trip originated with his wife, Anita Blanchard. Blanchard, a doctor who delivered both of the Obamas' daughters, suggested that Mrs. Obama and Sasha accompany her and her daughters on a trip to Spain. Another Obama friend joined the two women, he said. Noting that his wife's father had recently died, he said, "They're good friends and that's a tough time." He added, "When someone delivers your children, that's kind of an important bond, I think."(AP Photo)

White House adviser David Axelrod said Monday on CNN, "Yes, she is the first lady of the United States. She's also a mom. She wanted to take her daughter on a trip. They went with some friends of the family to celebrate another little girl's birthday. There aren't all that many places to go where you get privacy. Wherever you go, security is going to come, not because she asked for it, but because that is a nature of her — of her position in life."(AP Photo)

While in Spain, Mrs. Obama and her daughter also paid an official visit to King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia. And the first lady kept up on issues back home, issuing a statement praising congressional approval of child nutrition legislation. In the photo… Spain's King Juan Carlos, right, welcomes U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and daughter Sasha, 9, on their arrival at the Marivent Palace, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010.

Democrats said any criticism of her personal travels was out of bounds. "It's wrong to talk about the first lady's family vacation as a politician," Democratic Party Chairman Tim Kaine said Monday on NBC's "Today" show. "She's a mom." She's a mom who knows her every word, move, gesture and fashion choice can be subject to analysis. In the photo…Spain's Princess Letizia, right, welcomes U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama on her arrival at the Marivent Palace, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010.( AP Photo)

For the most part, Mrs. Obama has managed to avoid controversy during her time as first lady, sticking to a handful of relatively safe issues such as fighting childhood obesity, helping military families and promoting national service and mentoring. In the photo….First lady Michelle Obama high-fives a player during a sports clinic with area youths and members of the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays baseball teams, Tuesday, July 20, 2010, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Obama spoke at an event with Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association that will team with the White House in the Let's Move campaign, which promotes exercise and healthy eating for America's youth. (AP Photo)

A Gallup poll released last month found the first lady's favorability ratings topped those for her husband, Bill and Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush, Sarah Palin and a host of other figures in the public eye. In this May 7, 2010 file photo, first lady Michelle Obama delivers the keynote speech to the Democratic National Committee's Women's Leadership Forum 16th Annual National Issues Conference in Washington.(AP Photo)

But Mrs. Obama has not been immune to criticism. Questions have ofter been raised about her sense of style. Early in her husband's presidency, the first lady was skewered for wearing pricey sneakers by French design house Lanvin when she volunteered at a food bank. (The shoes can go for upwards of $500.) This June 6, 2009 file photo shows US first lady Michelle Obama, left, during an arrival ceremony with French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, at the Prefecture, in Caen, France. The first ladies earned spots on Vanity Fair best-dressed list.

The first couple caught criticism when the president and Mrs. Obama flew Air Force One to New York last year for a date. "If I weren't president, I would be happy to catch the shuttle with my wife to take her to a Broadway show, " Barack Obama groused months later. "The notion that I just couldn't take my wife out on a date without it being a political issue was not something I was happy about."(AP Photo)

There also was a bit of grumbling last year when Obama ended a four-nation trip with some Paris sightseeing with his wife and their two daughters, including a stop at Notre-Dame Cathedral. The girls and the first lady lingered in the city after the president left for home, visiting the Eiffel Tower and other spots.(AP Photo)

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs last week tried to dismiss questions about the first lady's trip by saying, "She is a private citizen and is the mother of a daughter on a private trip." (AP Photo)

But fair or not, any action by a modern president — or his wife — is sure to be viewed through a political prism, said McBride, who was Mrs. Bush's chief of staff. "Everything you do when you're in a political environment has to be weighed," she said. "It's just the reality of being a public person." First Lady Michelle Obama breaks a bottle of sparkling wine on the bow of the third U.S. Coast Guard National Security cutter Stratton (WMSL 752) Friday, July 23, 2010 in Pascagoula, Miss., at the Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding facility as Mike Petters, president of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding looks on. (AP Photo)

Mrs. Obama isn't the first first lady to leave her husband home and go on vacation overseas. Hillary Clinton and daughter Chelsea took a weekend break at a jungle lodge in Nepal in 1995. Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline spent three weeks at a seaside villa in Italy in 1962. A Colorado minister criticized her for appearing in public in a bathing suit and staying out until the early morning hours "while away from the U.S. and her husband."( AP Photo)