Embezzlement trial in Spain: Pedro Sánchez's wife has to go to court

Begoña Gómez, the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, has to go to court. Investigating judge Juan Carlos Peinado in the capital Madrid handed over the results of his investigations to a jury and ordered the opening of the main proceedings.

Accordingly, Gómez is said to have been guilty of embezzlement and illegal influence in her work at the capital's Complutense University (UCM). Peinado, who transferred the case just six days before he retired, is sticking with the allegations despite prosecutors' long calls for them to be dropped.

The lawsuit comes from the right-wing extremist organizations Manos Limpias (Clean Hands) and Hazte Oir (Make Yourself Heard) and was originally based on publications from right-wing websites. Judge Peinado accuses Gómez of taking advantage of her husband's office.

Gómez experienced “an immediate and significant change in her professional career” after Sánchez came to office in 2018. According to the judge, the accused used her “privileged position as the wife of the head of government” to take over the management of a special chair set up at the Complutense University of Madrid.

Gómez is also accused of embezzling public funds. She is said to have used her assistant, to whom she was entitled as the head of government's wife, “for purely private or personal purposes”. The judge assumes that she “continually participated in activities that were outside the actual duties of her position.”

The assistant therefore also has to go to the dock. Peinado does not provide any information about the amount that was embezzled. In addition, Gómez’s chair created software that she acquired. Here, too, the judge cannot provide any concrete evidence or figures about the damage caused.

Peinado waited to announce his decision until Sánchez was on the plane to the UN General Assembly in New York and was unable to react immediately. It was not the first time that the judge used the head of government's absence to make decisions that were effective in the press.

Government circles have sharply criticized Peinado's decision in the Spanish press. It is “an arbitrary and unjust investigation that only serves to prosecute Begoña Gómez – solely because she is the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.”

The right-wing Partido Popular (PP) criticizes the government's reaction. “In a fully functioning democracy, the courts decide on innocence or guilt, not the party of the head of government whose wife is the subject of investigations,” said a PP spokeswoman.

Now the eleven jurors must be selected. The main proceedings will probably take until the end of 2027. This means that Sánchez will go into the upcoming election campaign at the end of spring/beginning of summer 2027 with an accused wife.