Madrid judge asked to shelve investigation into wife of Spanish PM
Prosecutors in Madrid have asked a judge to throw out a preliminary corruption investigation against the wife of Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, as the pressure group behind the complaint admitted its allegations may be based on incorrect media reports.
Sánchez, whose Socialist party has governed Spain since 2018, shocked the country on Wednesday night by saying he was considering resigning over what he called a baseless “harassment and bullying operation” being waged against him and his wife by his political opponents.
The prime minister said the “seriousness of the attacks” he and his wife, Begoña Gómez, were experiencing had led him to consider his position, and that he would reveal his decision on Monday.
Earlier on Wednesday a Madrid court opened a preliminary investigation into Gómez’s business affairs, after a complaint made by a pressure group whose leader has links to the far right and which frequently brings legal action against those it accuses of acting against Spain’s democratic interests. The group, Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), accused Gómez of using her influence as the wife of the prime minister to secure sponsors for a master’s degree course she ran.
Sánchez said the complaint was based on “alleged reporting” by news sites whose political leanings he described as “overtly rightwing and far right”.
The news site El Confidencial said the investigation was linked to Gómez’s alleged ties with the Spanish tourism group Globalia, which owns the Air Europa airline. It said she twice met Javier Hidalgo, Globalia’s chief executive, when the carrier was in talks with the government to secure a bailout during the pandemic. At the time, Gómez was running IE Africa Center, a foundation linked to Madrid’s Instituto de Empresa business school.
Yesterday morning Manos Limpias seemed more cautious about its allegations. The group said it had learned “through various digital newspapers, about information that outlined alleged irregularities that could allegedly be criminal”.