Court confirms graft trial for Spanish PM's wife

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his wife Begona Gomez during the 41st congress of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) at the Palacio de Exposiciones in Seville, on December 1, 2024. [AFP]

A Spanish court on Thursday confirmed Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's wife Begona Gomez will face trial for alleged influence peddling and embezzlement, dashing her final hope of avoiding the dock.

Gomez's two-year-long legal saga is one of several corruption scandals jeopardising the leftist government of Sanchez, a global progressive hero for his clashes with US President Donald Trump and Israel.

Judge Juan Carlos Peinado opened an investigation in April 2024 to determine whether Gomez had exploited her position as Sanchez's wife for private gain, which she and the prime minister deny.

The case centres on the creation and management of a chair at Madrid's Complutense University that was co-directed by Gomez, as well as the alleged use of public resources and personal connections to advance private interests.

Peinado ended his probe in April and charged Gomez with embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption in business dealings and misappropriation of funds.

He ordered a jury trial and banned Gomez from leaving the country, measures against which her legal team appealed.

The Madrid provincial court said in a statement that it had maintained the two charges of influence peddling and embezzlement but dismissed the accusations of corruption in business dealings and misappropriation.

The court also lifted Gomez's travel ban but did not set a trial date. No appeals against the ruling are possible.

Sanchez has dismissed the allegations as an attempt by the right to undermine his government, after a complaint by an anti-corruption group with far-right ties started the case.

"Anyone familiar with the investigation knows it is a political case which originated from a false complaint from a far-right organisation, based on fake news, and whose only motivation is the harassment and persecution" of Gomez, sources from Sanchez's office said on Thursday.

Separate corruption affairs have ensnared the Socialist leader's brother David, ex-party heavyweights and his mentor, the former prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

On Tuesday, a court banned David Sanchez from holding public office for nine years after convicting him of administrative misconduct in the creation of a tailor-made local government job.

The main conservative Popular Party (PP) and far-right Vox say the succession of scandals proves systemic Socialist corruption, demanding Sanchez's resignation and early elections.

"This is an unprecedented situation in Spanish democracy and inconceivable in any European democracy," the PP said.

Sanchez has defended his government's probity and insists it will see out its term until the next scheduled general election in 2027.