Spain, Prime Minister Sanchez’s wife summoned to testify as a suspect. The People’s Party on the attack: “Corruption in the government”

The wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sànchez, Begoña Gómez, was summoned by the judge of the preliminary investigation section 41 of the Madrid Court as a suspect for the alleged crime of influence peddling and business corruption. The summons is set for July 5th at 10am. The magistrate in charge of the investigation has started the proceedings […]

The wife of the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Begoña Gómezwas summoned by the judge of the preliminary investigation section 41 of Court of Madrid in the guise of investigated for the alleged crime of influence trafficking And corruption in business. The summons is set for July 5th at 10am. The magistrate in charge of the investigation has started the investigation on the basis of a complaint presented by the self-styled union Manos Limpias (Clean Hands) regarding a series of contracts awarded to companies headed by the entrepreneur Juan Carlos Barrabes, master’s professor at the Complutense University that Gómez co-directed. At the center of the investigation are two letters of recommendation that were allegedly signed by the wife of the president of the government. The magistrate also called for June 16 some witnesses who were supposed to appear on Thursday June 6, accepting the request of Gómez’s defense. Among the witnesses there are four managers Red.esthe organism dependent on Ministry for Digital Transformationwhich granted public aid for approximately 10 million euros to a temporary business union linked to Barrabes. After the news of the summons, the Match popularwho has ridden these suspicions about the prime minister’s wife in recent months, immediately went on the attack: “It’s not mud – says the general secretary Cuca Gamarra – it’s corruption Moncloa“, that is, the seat of the Spanish government. “There is no fake letter or smoke screen that can hide the fact that Sanchez’s wife is under investigation for having signed letters of recommendation for the government to award contracts to friendly entrepreneurs”, writes Gamarra in a social post. “Spain deserves a worthy president and Sanchez is not,” he concludes. The government spokeswoman Pilar Alegria he sent a message of “tranquility” and stated that there is “nothing” against the leader’s wife other than the “mud” thrown by the right and the ultra-right, also noting how strange “the coincidence” is that this choice of the judge arrives “in this week” of the campaign before elections Europeans.

The case that concerns Begoña Gómez has been at the center of political controversy in recent months. The center-right used it to attack Sànchez, the prime minister used it to denounce the attacks of the oppositions who use pretexts to weaken him in an instrumental way. To the point that the prime minister, at the end of April, threatened to leave the leadership of the government a few weeks ago, taking a few days to reflect. In those days he received the solidarity of all the forces that are part of his coalition, as well as that of the citizens who took to the streets to support him.

To remain on the merits of the accusations against Sanchez’s wife, however, it must be said that the complaint by Manos Limpias – which calls itself a trade union, founded in 1995 by Miguel Bernardformer head of the far-right group Forza Nuova – is the latest in a long series of complaints filed against the government and the left and often ended in nothing. The latest is based on a series of articles published by what Sànchez calls “a constellation of ultra-right newspapers” and relates to alleged meetings held in 2020 by Begoña Gómez with those responsible for Globaliaowner of the airline Air Europa, then the recipient of a 475 million loan from the Spanish executive through the fund created during the pandemic for the rescue of strategic companies. And the investigators are therefore examining two letters of recommendations that Gómez would have provided for one joint ventures for a contract publicsecond El Confidencial. The main shareholder of the joint venture was Barrabes, who has links to the department run by Gómez at the Complutense University of Madrid and won the contract, beating 20 other rivals, for 10.2 million euros. The preliminary investigation, opened on April 16 by the Madrid court, was classified by the judge who called various witnesses to testify, including two journalists. “We have denied these falsehoods while Begoña has taken legal action,” the prime minister explained in an open letter. “Begoña will collaborate with justice and defend his honor” he assured. After the silence of a few days and then the decision to remain in government Spanish Socialist Party had gained several percentage points in the polls.