Key actors — tap for context
Begoña Gómez
wife of the Spanish prime minister, businesswoman and former director of an institute of corporate social responsibility
Why here: faces a citizens' jury for influence peddling and embezzlement linked to a university chair
More info →
Pedro Sánchez
President of the Spanish Government and leader of the Socialists (PSOE) since 2018
Why here: the judiciary has simultaneously opened corruption cases against both his wife and his brother
More info →Juan Carlos Peinado
investigating judge at Madrid Investigating Court No. 41
Why here: opened the Gómez case in April 2024 and originally expanded it to four charges
Cristina Álvarez
assistant to Begoña Gómez, paid by the government office (Moncloa)
Why here: according to the court, she handled correspondence for the private chair from a government email account; she too will face the jury
At the heart of the case is the special chair in "Competitive Social Transformation," which Gómez co-led at Madrid's Complutense University and for whose funding she approached private companies. She also signed a letter recommending businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés for a public tender, which he subsequently won. The embezzlement charge relates to software developed with university funds that, according to the court, ended up on a website registered in her name — the university valued it at 113,509 euros. Standing trial alongside her will be her assistant, Cristina Álvarez, who was paid by the government office. El Español ↗
In its reasoning, the panel wrote that "the mere marital relationship with the highest authority of the country's government can, under certain circumstances, exert effective moral pressure," satisfying the elements of the crime of influence peddling. This sentence in particular is the most uncomfortable for Sánchez's government — the court is thereby elevating the position of "first lady" into an instrument of influence, even though it is not a constitutional office. El Español ↗
The government rejects the case as political. The prime minister's office claims it arose from "a false complaint by a far-right organization built on hoaxes," and the state prosecution service — headed by a government-appointed attorney general — has repeatedly called for it to be dropped. However, the jury decision comes just two days after another court banned the prime minister's brother, David Sánchez, from holding public office for nine years for abuse of power in connection with a position tailored specifically for him. For Sánchez, the judiciary is thus opening two fronts at once — one in the wider family, the other directly within his own household. El Español ↗
