Spain’s prime minister faces difficult week as his wife and ex-PM go on trial | Pedro Sánchez
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez faces one of the longest and most difficult weeks of his premiership; Both his wife and his socialist predecessor are preparing to appear before judges investigating them for alleged influence peddling and other crimes.
Sánchez, who came to power in 2018 promising to end the corruption that has plagued the ruling conservative People’s Party (PP), has found his family, party and administration embroiled in a series of scandals.
His wife, Begoña Gómez, was subpoenaed Monday afternoon by a judge who accused her of embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption in business dealings and misappropriation of funds at the end of a two-year investigation.
She is accused of using her influence as the prime minister’s wife to obtain a post at and manage the Complutense University of Madrid, and of using public resources and personal connections to advance her private interests.
Judge Juan Carlos Peinado also indicted Gómez’s personal assistant Cristina Álvarez and businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés in connection with the case. Gómez, Álvarez and Barrabés, who have denied wrongdoing, are expected to face a jury trial.
The investigation into Gómez was launched following a complaint by Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), a self-styled union with far-right connections that has a history of using the courts to pursue people it sees as threats to Spain’s democratic interests.
Sánchez has repeatedly dismissed the lawsuit against his wife as a baseless and politically motivated smear. The prime minister accused his political and media opponents of stalking his family and also openly questioned the impartiality of some members of the judiciary.
Sánchez’s brother David is on trial for alleged influence peddling in another case that began with a complaint from Manos Limpias. He is accused of being given a special post as coordinator of music conservatories by the socialist-led council of the southwestern city of Badajoz in July 2017, when his brother was the national leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) but not yet prime minister. David Sánchez, who denies the charges, faces three years in prison if convicted.
Two of the prime minister’s former right-hand men are accused of taking kickbacks from public contracts, while a judge is investigating whether PSOE members waged a campaign to destabilize judicial proceedings against the socialist party and government.
But perhaps the biggest political upset came last month when former socialist prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero – a totemic figure of the Spanish left – was investigated for alleged influence peddling and other crimes by a judge reviewing a government bailout of an airline during the Covid pandemic.
Zapatero, who served as prime minister from 2004 to 2011, was ordered to testify before Spain’s highest criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
Investigation is part of it an investigation Included in the €53m (£46m) state rescue of Spanish airline Plus Ultra in March 2021. Prosecutors are examining whether the company “inadequately” used public funds approved by the government for the bailout. Anti-corruption police are investigating whether the airline used bailout money to launder funds from Venezuela via France, Switzerland and Spain.
The case took another turn last week when the Audiencia Nacional announced that Zapatero was being investigated for possible tax fraud and evasion after police discovered jewelery worth more than €1.3 million (£1.1 million) while searching his office safe as part of the Plus Ultra investigation. The former prime minister has denied any wrongdoing.
The PP called for early elections, claiming that “everything begins and ends with Pedro Sánchez, where the government, the PSOE and corruption unite.”
However, the prime minister rejected such calls and said he would fight and contest in the general elections scheduled for next year. A. poll on monday The online newspaper elDiario.es found that 64 percent of socialist voters think Sánchez should remain in office until the next election, while 22.8 percent want him to hold early voting.
