The wife of Spain’s prime minister has been charged with corruption in a long-running case that her allies have branded a political smear.
Begona Gomez, the wife of Spanish leader Pedro Sanchez, is accused of using her position to secure a top job at a prestigious university in Madrid and using public resources to advance her own interests.
She was charged on Monday with influence peddling, the embezzlement of public funds, misappropriation of funds, and private corruption. Her personal assistant and a businessman also faced charges in connection with the case. All three have denied wrongdoing.
Judge Juan Carlos Peinado said his two-year investigation had turned up enough indications of criminal conduct to prosecute, and gave all parties five days to request the opening of oral proceedings or to submit their defence briefs ahead of a possible trial.
Mr Sanchez, who has dismissed the case as an attempt to undermine his coalition, told reporters on Tuesday that he only demands the courts “do justice”.
“I am convinced that time will put everything and everyone in their place, as I don’t have to say anything else,” he said during an official visit to China with his wife.
Sources from Mr Sanchez’s party, the left-wing PSOE, described the process as a “baseless” strategy of “character assassination” against the prime minister in comments to La Sexta.
“We have been faced with an investigation that is, to say the least, astonishing,” a source told the broadcaster, adding: “In our opinion, it is completely baseless and is part of a strategy by the right and far right and their political and media outlets.
“This strategy is nothing less than the harassment and character assassination of the prime minister, using every means at their disposal, including his family. Not everything is fair game in politics. The right and far right have crossed a line never before crossed in Spanish democracy.”
The conservative People’s Party, in opposition, described the situation as “absolutely unbelievable”.
Alma Ezcurra, the party’s deputy secretary for sectoral coordination, criticised the decision to indict Ms Gomez while she was abroad, saying: “There’s only one thing to say: the tetraprocesada [four-time defendant] is in Beijing.”
Ms Gomez has been under investigation since 2024, when Judge Peinado sought to determine whether she had used her position as the prime minister’s wife for her own gain, following a complaint from anti-corruption campaigners Manos Limpias (Clean Hands).
Manos Limpias, a self-styled trade union whose leader has links to Spain’s far right, said Ms Gomez had used her influence as the wife of the prime minister to allegedly secure sponsors for a university master’s degree course that she ran at the Complutense University in Madrid.
Judge Peinado expelled the group from the case late last year for failing to pay the required bail, but proceedings continued as other plaintiffs joined. Spain’s Public Prosecutor’s Office has also called for the case to be closed on several occasions.
The prime minister’s brother, David Sanchez, was separately indicted in an investigation into alleged influence peddling linked to his hiring by a regional government.
Former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos also faced trial earlier this month over alleged kickbacks linked to public contracts.
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