THE MADRID Provincial Court has ordered the return of the passport of Begoña Gomez, the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
It also ruled that legal proceedings against her will continue.
The Madrid bench dismissed two of the four allegations that had been brought against Gomez by investigating judge Juan Carlos Peinado.
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She had initially faced accusations of influence peddling, business-related corruption, embezzlement and abuse of office.
Judge Juan Carlos Peinado opened a probe in April 2024 to determine whether Gomez exploited her position as Sanchez’s wife for private benefit.
Investigations started following complaints from two groups with far-right ties.
That was in spite of the Guardia Civil finding ‘no evidence’ against Gomez and public prosecutors saying there was no case to answer.
Inquiries have focused on whether an official employed in the Prime Minister’s office, Cristina Alvarez, carried out work for Gomez during her previous academic job at Madrid’s Complutense University.
She will still stand trial before a jury for influence peddling and the misuse of public funds.
The court also lifted a precautionary measure under which Gomez’s passport had been temporarily confiscated because of concerns that she might leave the country.
The passport seizure had prevented Gomez from accompanying Sanchez to the recent NATO summit in Ankara.
She was, however, granted special permission to travel to the UK to attend her daughter’s graduation ceremony at the University of Bristol.
Gomez has consistently denied any wrongdoing and said she has nothing to hide.
Pedro Sanchez has dismissed the allegations against his wife as an attempt by right-wing groups to undermine his administration.
Government sources said the case stemmed from ‘an unfounded complaint based on fake news’ and described it as a politically motivated attempt to target the prime minister’s wife.
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