THE judge who charged Pedro Sanchez’s wife with the embezzlement of public funds earlier this week will now face his own investigation after Spain’s legal watchdog launched a probe into his behaviour.
According to El Confidencial, Juan Carlos Peinado, the judge leading the investigation into corruption allegations levelled against Begoña Gomez, Sanchez’s wife, will himself face investigation after a key Socialist ally of the prime minister, Felix Bolaños, filed two written complaints.
The objections relate to legal proceedings in April when Bolaños, a former Secretary-General of the Office of the Prime Minister of Spain, was summoned to testify as a witness in the investigation into Gomez, who faces allegations of influence peddling, corruption in business, misappropriation of public funds and professional intrusion.
Peinado, overseeing the case, alleged that Bolaños had provided false testimony under oath before referring the matter to the Supreme Court for further investigation.
In July, the Supreme Court cleared Bolaños of any wrongdoing, citing an absolute lack of evidence, and criticised Peinado for not consulting the Prosecutor’s Office before pursuing the case.
In his written complaint, Bolaños – now the minister of the presidency, justice and relations with parliament – accused the judge of ‘irregularities’ during questioning.
According to the complaint, at one point Bolaños smiled before the judge shouted: “I don’t know why you are smiling.”
The news comes just days after Gomez, along with Cristina Alvarez, an aide, were summoned to appear in court in front of Peinado on September 11.
It is alleged that Alvarez, an official employed in the prime minister’s office, carried out work for Gomez during a previous post at Madrid’s Compultense University.
If proven, the work could be interpreted as a diversion of public resources – the employee’s time and salary – for Gomez’s own private purposes.
Gomez has been under investigation since April 2024 when the far-right trade union Manos Limpias (‘Clean Hands’) launched a complaint.
The probe famously led Sanchez to suspend his public duties for five days to ‘pause and think’ about his future in office.
Sanchez has always insisted on his wife’s innocence, instead blasting the allegations as an orchestrated right-wing smear campaign designed to weaken his minority coalition government.
But the charges are the latest in a long string of corruption allegations that have undermined Sanchez’s authority and prompted calls for the former guapo (‘handsome one’) of Spanish politics to step down.
He has come under particularly intense pressure ever since his former right-hand man, Santos Cerdan, was arrested on suspicion of bribery, criminal conspiracy and influence peddling.
The charges relate to alleged kickbacks on €500 million of public works contracts that implicate Cerdan, the former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos, and former aide Koldo Garcia.
The scandal worsened after audio recordings were released involving Abalos and Garcia discussing sharing prostitutes. They deny wrongdoing.
Sanchez’s brother, David, also faces trial for misuse of public funds, accused of taking a public salary while not turning up for work. He denies wrongdoing.
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