On Monday, April 13, Begoña Gómez, the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, has been formally charged with corruption after a two-year criminal investigation.
The court’s ruling officially accuses her of embezzlement, abuse of power for personal gain, commercial corruption, and misappropriation of funds among other charges. It will be up to the court to determine whether she will face further trial proceedings.
Judge Juan Carlos Peinado initiated the investigation in April 2024 to clarify whether Gómez used her position as the prime minister’s wife to gain personal benefits.
Gómez has denied all the accusations, and Prime Minister Sánchez has refuted the claims as well, alleging that they are politically motivated by right-wing forces attempting to destabilize his coalition government. Currently, Gómez is accompanying Sánchez on an official visit to China.
She is accused of leveraging her role as the prime minister’s wife to secure a position as the head of a business master’s program at Complutense University in Madrid to further her own personal career. She is also accused of misusing public resources for her personal gain.
Judge Peinado pointed out that Gómez lacks the relevant educational and professional background, which is one of the pieces of evidence in the case.
The lawsuit against Gómez was filed by the anti-corruption organization “Manos Limpias” (Clean Hands), whose leader, Miguel Bernad, has close ties to right-wing parties. The organization has a history of litigating against political figures, with many cases ending in failure.
At the outset of the investigation, Prime Minister Sánchez temporarily suspended his official duties for five days, stating that he needed to “pause to reflect” on whether to continue in his position. He believed that the right-wing and far-right factions were trying to drag politics into the “mud.”
Sánchez complained that his political opponents had been employing months-long “harassment tactics” to weaken his political influence, including personal attacks on his wife.
The Socialist party prime minister’s family and former allies have been embroiled in multiple corruption scandals, adding immense pressure to his already fragile coalition government. Opposition parties have seized on this opportunity to demand his resignation.
The scandal doesn’t stop at the prime minister’s wife – Sánchez’s brother, David Sánchez, is under investigation and facing charges for allegedly using his influence for personal gain.
Coincidentally, earlier this month, Sánchez’s former Minister of Transport, José Luis Ábalos, appeared in court for allegedly illegally accepting kickbacks while selling personal protective equipment to the Spanish government during the COVID-19 pandemic.