Begoña Gómez, passport to scorn

“Never say of that water I will not drink nor of this priest he is not my father”. The traditional saying my father often repeated to me (!) and I always keep it as a vaccine before writing a prophecy. But we will agree that the probabilities of Begoña Gómez kicking the bucket towards Pernambuco while her husband is president of Spain are frankly remote. Therefore, her passport withdrawal by order of Judge Peinado has caused surprise in the press, even in the right-wing press. Some even venture a Machiavellian maneuver: they overturn this provision, which is harmless despite everything, the system is reinforced as a guarantor and they can now attack the core issue, which is to try to send her to jail. Over the top? Never say of that water, etcetera. In any case, it was surprising to see this subtitle in El Mundo: “The instructor prohibits Begoña Gómez from leaving the country and indignates the police by stating that her escorts can help her escape”. It is revealing that the newspaper shows more loyalty to the police force than to the magistrate. Even in the ecosystem of the sewers there are hierarchies and deference among the ranks. Another relevant right-wing voice that has criticized the judge in question is José Antonio Zarzalejos. In a column in El Confidencial he says: “Peinado's resolution seems to be the outburst of an irresponsible magistrate who compromises not only his reputation but also offers a recital of poor technical competence and diminished personal judgment”.

That the usual crust has donned their fachalecos for their particular hunting party does not mean, of course, that it is all an invention without basis. The stench has been around for weeks. But this constant noise of blunderbuss does suggest one thing: that political crimes in Spain are investigated asymmetrically, with disparate depths, divergent tempos, arbitrary media instrumentations and tailor-made fiscal adjustments.