A court in Madrid is currently probing a complaint against Begoña Gómez, spouse of Pedro Sánchez the Socialist Prime Minister of Spain. The complaint alleges her of business corruption and profiteering from undue influence. This inquiry is viewed as politicised maneuvering by the leftist factions.
The basis of these allegations are Ms Gómez’s associations with companies that have benefited from governmental aid and public contracts. These charges were formally filed by Miguel Bernad, the primary figure of a labour union for civil servants known as the Clean Hands.
Court papers reveal that Bernad alleges that Gómez secured benefits for business individuals vying for public contracts, utilising her status as the prime minister’s wife. These assertions rely largely on various news reports.
The news website “El Confidencial”, which has been running stories against Ms Gómez, disclosed that the thinktank represented by Ms Gómez maintained connections with Javier Hidalgo, a businessman. Gómez met with Hidalgo amidst his covid relief package negotiations with the government. Air Europa, headed by Hidalgo’s father, eventually secured a package supposedly valued at €475 million.
The news site further divulged that Gómez endorsed a consortium’s bid for government contracts valuing €10.2 million.
For weeks, these revelations have served as ammunition for the opposition against Prime Minister Sánchez.
“Both the delay in providing an explanation by Pedro Sánchez and his inability to justify how his spouse could have conducted business from the Prime Minister’s quarters, the Moncloa; it’s utterly shocking”, critiques José Luis Martínez-Almeida, Madrid’s mayor and a member of the conservative Popular Party (PP).
When quizzed in a parliamentary debate, Mr. Sánchez only fleetingly addressed the allegation levelled against his wife. Maintaining his faith in his nation’s justice system he said, “Despite the unsettling news circulating today, I still believe in our justice system.”
Supporters of Mr Sánchez have expressed scepticism regarding the legal action initiated by Mr Bernad, interpreting it as a tactic by the opposition to undercut the coalition government. The Justice Minister, Félix Bolaños, categorised the lawsuit as “another baseless allegation”.
The Deputy Prime Minister, María José Montero, assured that the government will prevent “these Trump-like tactics from deteriorating the democracy in Spain, constructed through considerable efforts.”
The commencement of this investigation does not imply that charges have been levelled against Ms Gómez, or that she’s been implicated as a culprit. Mr Bernad and Clean Hands, entities known for their historical links to the far right, have a history of filing multiple corruption lawsuits against political figures, the majority of which have been unsuccessful.
Unsuccessful legal actions by Clean Hands have included cases against a judge aiming to examine human rights violations during the Spanish dictatorship, against Samuel Eto’o, a Cameroonian footballer, for allegedly insulting Real Madrid, and against the children’s television show Los Lunnis for purportedly dishonouring minors by showing two puppets of the same gender getting married. They also attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, to convict King Felipe’s sister, Princess Cristina, on charges related to tax offences.