SPANISH prime minister Pedro Sanchez has come under fresh political pressure after a court ruling formally charged his wife with corruption.
Begoña Gomez, 55, is accused of using her position as Sanchez’s spouse to secure a senior academic role at Madrid’s prestigious Complutense University – and now faces up to 24 years in jail if convicted.
The charges include embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption in business dealings, and misappropriation of funds, with prosecutors also alleging she used public resources for private benefit.
The case stems from a two-year investigation led by group Hazte Oir and judge Juan Carlos Peinado, who pointed to Gomez’s ‘lack of qualifications’ as evidence behind claims she leveraged her personal connections to become director of the Complutense University’s master’s programme in business studies.
Madrid’s chief prosecutor has since moved to have the charges dismissed, and both Gomez and Sanchez have firmly denied any wrongdoing throughout.
For now, the decision on whether the case proceeds to trial rests with the courts. But in the meantime, the story has dominated the Spanish press and exposed broader political divisions within the country.
The Olive Press is bringing you a selection of columns and opinions from across the political spectrum – and finishing it all off with original commentary.
El Pais – left-of-centre
“When it emerged that the private prosecution led by the ultra-Catholic group Hazte Oir is seeking 24 years in prison for Begoña Gomez for a string of very serious-sounding offenses built on extraordinarily flimsy evidence, I was tempted to laugh, because the accusations are absurd. I held back. There’s only one thing more dangerous than lapsing into social-democratic optimism, and that is failing to stand up to the Leviathan.”
El Mundo – right-of-centre
“In a mature democracy, it should be entirely normal to discuss whether preferential treatment has occurred due to proximity to power. Instead, the public has been denied the chance to examine, calmly and objectively, facts that are politically unacceptable. The democratic bar cannot be set that low. The demand for integrity doesn’t begin where the Criminal Code ends – it starts much earlier.”
ElDiario.es – left-of-centre
“[The investigation was] a remarkable display of creative evasion from reality which, if it weren’t about a particular way of administering justice, would feel more like parody than a serious investigation. Because if [Peinado’s] rulings, the alleged offenses, and the supposed motives are outlandish, the timing is even more so. There’s a far-from-coincidental pattern every time the well-known judge issues an order concerning the prime minister’s wife: he always lines it up with one of Pedro Sanchez’s trips abroad. For instance, the indictment made public this Monday is perfectly timed with Sanchez’s official visit to China with his wife.”
The Olive Press
There are two sides to this mess.
A 24-year sentence is just monstrous: if Gomez stood trial, were found guilty, and served her term in full, she would leave prison as a woman nearing 80.
While tough penalties for influence peddling are a necessary deterrent, a quarter-century behind bars feels disproportionate to the crime she allegedly committed – especially in a country where serious offenders often walk free after five or six years.
At the same time, severe political fallout for the power couple seems almost inevitable. Whether she is convicted or not, Gomez is merely the latest in a string of corruption scandals to engulf the prime minister – consider his brother David, or the Koldo-Abalos affair.
The question is: can Sanchez ride out the storm?
I think he can – and the Iran war may prove to be the windfall he needs.
At a moment when his popularity appeared to be slipping, Sanchez won over many supporters, both at home and abroad, by standing up to Trump and emerging as the kind of left-wing figure many in Europe were eager to rally behind.
That may be enough to save him – provided, of course, that Gomez is cleared of all charges.
No politician could withstand the blow of a spouse behind bars – not even Europe’s darling.
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