Wife of Spanish Prime Minister under investigation

Pedro Sanchez and his wife at a polling station last July Photo: JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images

Wife According to unpublished court documents According to documents, the Spanish prime minister is under criminal investigation amid allegations of corruption and influence peddling.

Begoña Gomez, the wife of Pedro Sanchez, is the subject of a preliminary investigation by a Spanish court into whether she committed a business crime in her personal relationships The court did not provide further details at that time in April because the case was closed and preliminary, saying only that it was considering a complaint created by an anti-corruption group called Manos Limpias (Clean Hands). ).

When an investigating judge agreed to look into the complaint last month, Mr Sanchez took a five-day break from his duties to consider resigning.

On Tuesday, investigation documents seen by several Spanish media outlets said that Judge Juan Carlos Peinado granted Ms. Gomez «investigative» status.

This means the judge believes there is credible evidence that she committed or participated in a crime.

The news is likely to reignite the political storm over the case, which Mr. Sanchez's left-wing government says is a plot orchestrated by the opposition and client media to overthrow him.

The case against Ms. Gomez is based on a series of newspaper articles that formed the basis of Manos Limpias' complaint.

Manos Limpias, whose leader has ties to the far right, later retracted the allegations, saying they may have been based on fake news. This was reported by local media.

On Thursday it emerged that Civil Guard investigators had found no evidence of wrongdoing by Ms Gomez. The prosecutor also told Judge Peinado that they believed the prime minister's wife had no case.

The Civil Guard said there was no evidence to support Ms Gomez's alleged links to the Spanish tourism industry. The Globalia group, which owns Air Europe, influenced the government's decision to provide emergency funding to the airline during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Spain's main conservative opposition People's Party has demanded Mr Sanchez explain why he did not back down. , relating to companies linked to Ms. Gómez's professional activities.

Leading members of Mr. Sánchez's Socialist Party (PSOE) called on the prime minister to remain in office for a five-day period. isolation.

Maria Jesús Montero, Spain's finance minister and PSOE number two, said on Thursday that a judge had decided to open an investigation into Ms Gomez based on simple newspaper clippings containing «fake news».