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Spanish prosecutors question credibility of corruption probe against PM’s wife

Spain's public prosecutors office on Thursday requested the dismissal of a corruption investigation into Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's wife which had prompted him to announce he was considering stepping down.

Published: 26 April 2024 09:18 CEST
Spanish prosecutors question credibility of corruption probe against PM's wife
Sánchez kisses his wife Begoña Gómez during an election night rally in Madrid in 2019. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO / AFP)

A Madrid court said Wednesday it had opened an investigation into Begoña Gómez for suspected influence peddling and corruption in response to a complaint by anti-corruption pressure group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), whose leader is linked to the far right.

The group, which has presented a litany of unsuccessful lawsuits against politicians in the past, said in a statement on Wednesday that it had based its complaint on media reports and could not vouch for their veracity.

“If they are not true, it is those who published them” who will have to “take responsibility”, the group wrote in a statement.

The public prosecutors office said it has requested “the annulment of the proceedings” opened by a Madrid court and “the closure of the case”.

READ ALSO: Who is Begoña Gómez? Spanish PM’s partner thrust into spotlight

While the court did not give details of the case, online news site El Confidencial said it was related to her ties to several private companies that received government funding or won public contracts.

It said she had met twice with Javier Hidalgo, the CEO of Spanish tourism group Globalia which owns Air Europa, when the carrier was in talks with the government to secure a huge bailout after it was badly hit by plunging air traffic during the Covid-19 crisis.

At the time, Gómez was running IE Africa Center, a foundation linked to Madrid’s Instituto de Empresa (IE) business school, which signed a sponsorship agreement with Globalia in 2020. Gómez left the post in 2022.

Investigators are also looking into two letters of support Gómez allegedly provided for a joint venture bidding for a public contract, El Confidencial said.

Sánchez, in office since 2018, dismissed the accusations against his wife, saying in a letter posted on X on Wednesday that they were part of a campaign of “harassment” waged by “media heavily influenced by the right and far right” and supported by the conservative opposition.

The founder of Manos Limpias, Miguel Bernad, is the former leader of a small far-right group, Frente Nacional.

He was sentenced to four years in prison in 2021 for involvement in an extortion ring, before finally being acquitted on appeal due to lack of evidence.

READ ALSO: What happens and who takes over if Spain’s Prime Minister resigns?

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POLITICS

Spain PM’s Socialists eye power grab in Catalan vote

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialists are hoping to show Catalonia has turned away from its independence fixation by winning Sunday's regional vote and defeating separatist leader Carles Puigdemont.

Published: 12 May 2024 08:49 CEST
Spain PM's Socialists eye power grab in Catalan vote

When the polls open at 9:00 am (0700 GMT), the wealthy northeastern region of some eight million people will vote for 135 deputies to the Catalan parliament.

Opinion polls suggest Sanchez’s Socialists are ahead of Puigdemont’s hardline separatist JxCat and its rival ERC, led by current regional leader Pere Aragones.

READ MORE: Catalan independence for beginners: Five key points

Polls close at 8:00 pm with results due out several hours later.

“We need a change on May 12, and only the Socialist Party and (its candidate) Salvador Illa can lead that… to move Catalonia forward in coexistence and social rights,” said Sanchez in Barcelona on wrapping up the campaign.

Since becoming premier in 2018, some nine months after a failed Catalan separatist bid of October 2017, Sanchez has sought to “heal the wounds” caused by the unprecedented political crisis.

In 2021, he pardoned the separatists jailed over the secession bid. In November he moved to promote an amnesty bill for those still wanted by the justice system in exchange for key separatist backing in parliament that let him secure a new four-year term in office.

The bill is in the Senate, due to pass into law in coming weeks. This will allow the return of Puigdemont, 61, the Catalan separatist leader who oversaw the botched independence bid then fled to Belgium to avoid prosecution.

The controversial measure has brought the right-wing and far-right opposition to the streets in huge protests, accusing Sanchez of letting himself be held “hostage” by the separatists to stay in power.

High stakes

For Sanchez, seizing Catalonia from the separatists — who have ruled the region for a decade — would be a major victory in his efforts to turn the page on the crisis sparked by the secession bid.

It would also allow him to press the restart button on his latest term in office, which began in November.

So far, it has been soured by bitter right-wing opposition and a corruption probe into his wife, which almost prompted his resignation last month.

Although the Socialists won the most votes during the last regional election in February 2021, their candidate Illa failed to piece together a governing majority. The separatist parties clubbed together to form a 74-seat coalition.

Despite lagging behind Illa in the polls, Puigdemont hopes for a strong showing in the vote so he can return home triumphantly as Catalan regional leader once the amnesty has become law.

“Let’s fill the ballot boxes with voting papers and start preparing for a new era,” said Puigdemont wrapping up his own campaign in the southern French town of Elne.

Unable to enter Spain, where he is subject to an arrest warrant, he has been campaigning in southern France near the border.

But the numbers do not look good for the JxCat leader who has vowed to retire from politics if he fails to win.

The Catalan separatist movement is deeply divided now however, with JxCat sharply at odds with its more moderate rival ERC.

The picture has been further complicated by the emergence in recent months of the ultranationalist Catalan Alliance which polls see winning several seats, although no other party would enter a pact with it.

Polls suggest the Socialists will win around 40 seats, meaning they would need support to reach the 68 required for a governing majority.

One possible alliance would involve the far left and ERC, in what would likely cause a damaging implosion within the independence movement.

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