Judge Juan Carlos Peinado is seeking charges against Begoña Gómez, the Spanish president's wife, who is being investigated for influence peddling, business corruption, misappropriation of funds, and workplace intrusion. Despite some amendments by the Provincial Court, she is traveling and has charged other individuals: two businessmen, the rector of the Complutense University, and an assistant to Gómez at the Moncloa Palace. Peinado has investigated whether Sánchez's wife influenced the rescue of Air Europa, public contracts awarded to a collaborator, whether she was hired at IE Business School because of her marriage, and whether she appropriated a technological tool from the Complutense University. At the moment, he has not gathered sufficient evidence, but the case continues.
Sánchez, trapped in the "mud machine" a year later
The legal cases that motivated the five days of reflection remain open.
MadridIt was the night of Sant Jordi when the alarms went off in Moncloa. The Confidential would publish that a Madrid court was opening proceedings against his wife, Begoña Gómez, for alleged influence peddling and business corruption following a complaint filed by the far-right pseudo-union Manos Limpias. That Wednesday, April 24, after a control session to which Pedro Sánchez arrived with his head bowed, the Spanish president published a letter announcing that he was taking five days of reflection to consider his continued position in the Spanish government.
He decided to continue and accompanied it with the announcement of an agenda of reforms that would put a stop to what he calls the "mud machine." The areas in which to act were three: the judiciary, the media, and the institutions. For the first time, Sánchez confessed to being a victim of lawfare, which has reinforced the confrontation between the executive and the judicial right. A relevant actor of the opposition in the PSOE and Sumar government is the media apparatus, with historical headlines and digital media that move between disinformation and propaganda. Therefore, one of the essential pillars of the Action Plan for Democracy announced last July and which is currently underway is to limit public funding of the media, strengthen transparency in government subsidies, and sanction those who fake news. One of the institutions that Sánchez was criticizing is the Community of Madrid, which only makes public institutional advertising in the media, but not subsidies.
Isabel Díaz Ayuso, accompanied by her chief of staff, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, a former collaborator of José María Aznar – architect of the "Whoever can make it happen"–, is a fundamental piece of this "mud machine", according to the Spanish government. This is exemplified by the case of the Attorney General of the State: he is being investigated for allegedly having revealed secrets about corruption by Ayuso's partner, Alberto González Amador, but the Public Prosecutor's Office reported on the case to deny an erroneous publication. Legal cases surrounding the Spanish president
The legal cases surrounding the president
Since October 16, the Supreme Court has been investigating the Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, something unprecedented. The deletion of WhatsApp messages and emails tightens the loop on García Ortiz, but Judge Ángel Hurtado still has no evidence to prove whether the top official in the Public Prosecutor's Office leaked the email in which Isabel Díaz Ayuso's partner, Alberto González Amador, confessed to the media or to the Moncloa Palace. However, this week the judge opened a separate secret investigation after WhatsApp and Google transferred information from García Ortiz's cell phones to him. In parallel, the case against González Amador also remains in the investigative phase.
This is the only case the Spanish government is not fighting, instead acknowledging the corruption accusations primarily affecting former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García. However, the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) limits it to this scope. In this case, which is already open in the National Court on fraud in the hydrocarbon sector, in which businessman Víctor de Aldama is charged, some defendants have inflated alleged black money payments by PSOE leaders that they have not substantiated with evidence. Several reports from the Central Operative Unit of the Civil Guard suggest that Ábalos may have obtained compensation from the scheme, such as the rental of villas or apartments in exchange for contract contracts.
The judicial investigation against David Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister's brother, is the other case, along with that of Gómez, that most directly affects the socialist leader's personal circle. A judge in Badajoz is trying to determine whether the brother's hiring as head of the Performing Arts Office of the Badajoz Provincial Council, controlled by the PSOE, was a direct result. Popular far-right accusations also believe that the Spanish prime minister's brother was paid without showing up to work and that he helped place other positions related to the Moncloa government in the Badajoz Provincial Council. Both the person under investigation, who has since left his job, and the Spanish government deny this.
Measures of the Action Plan for Democracy
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Justice
In processing phase:
- The renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary is the only measure that has been fully implemented.
- The PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) introduced a law to limit the role of public prosecutions in legal cases. It is precisely these far-right groups that have used this instrument to prosecute his wife, Begoña Gómez. She is currently being held in Congress.
- The Council of Ministers has approved in the first round a bill to "democratize access to justice."
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Media
In processing phase:
- The Council of Ministers has approved in the first round a law to regulate the right to rectification in cases of fake news.
- The Spanish government has also passed legislation to grant the CNMC powers over digital and media services.
Pending, but planned for 2025:
- The 2025 regulatory plan includes a law that would make institutional advertising in the media subject to "transparent and impartial" criteria.
- There is also a commitment to promote a regulation that strengthens journalists' professional confidentiality.
Not planned for 2025:
- Sánchez pledged to limit public funding for media outlets and require them to disclose their shareholders.
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Transparency and good governance
In processing phase:
- The Spanish government has expanded the staff of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and created the Independent Whistleblower Protection Authority.
- The Council of Ministers and Congress have taken the first step toward legalizing an annual State of the Nation debate and electoral debates between candidates. They also mandate that published electoral polls incorporate microdata.
- Processes to regulate lobbying activities have begun in Congress.
Pending, but planned for 2025:
- Sánchez plans to approve the reform of the official secrets law in the second round, a commitment he made to ERC following the Pegasus scandal and the PNV.
- The Civil Service promises to promote a law in the first half of the year requiring administrations to report their assets every six months, sanctioning public officials who fail to disclose their assets, and penalizing political parties that fail to properly present their accounts.
