Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has accused his political opponents of trying to undermine his government and influence the outcome of this weekend’s European elections after a judge investigating corruption allegations against his wife summoned her to testify five days before polls open.
Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, is being investigation for alleged corruption and influence-peddling after a complaint by the pressure group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), a self-styled trade union with far-right links that has a long history of using the courts to pursue political targets.
Manos Limpias has accused Gómez of using her influence as the wife of the prime minister to secure sponsors for a university master’s degree course that she ran.
Although prosecutors in Madrid have asked the court to throw out the case for lack of evidence – and a report by the Guardia Civil police force found no indication of criminal activity by Gómez – the investigation is proceeding.
On Tuesday, a Madrid court ordered Gómez to testify on 5 July – 11 days before witnesses in the case give evidence on 16 July.
Hours later, Sánchez, who has always insisted on his wife’s innocence, posted a public letter on X, saying he found the timing of the judge’s announcement odd.
“This decision has been announced just five days before elections to the European parliament are held, which is strange,” wrote the prime minister. “Usually, the unwritten rule about not issuing decisions likely to affect the normal development of an election are followed so as not to affect how people vote. But in this case, it’s obvious that practice hasn’t been respected. I will leave the reader to draw their own conclusions.”
Sánchez then stepped up his attack on his rightwing and far-right opponents, once again accusing them of waging a baseless smear campaign against his wife in order to drive him out of office. “There is nothing behind this accusation, just an ugly fit-up driven by the far-right groups behind the complaint,” he wrote.
The prime minister paused his public duties for five days at the end of April while he considered whether he wanted to continue in office because of what he termed the “harassment and bullying operation” he and his wife were enduring. He decided to stay.
“They are now trying to use illegitimate methods to achieve what they didn’t manage to do at the polls,” Sánchez wrote in Tuesday’s letter, adding: “In the coming days you will be witness to a careful choreography designed by the extreme-right coalition to try to determine the elections and weaken the government. Begoña and I know perfectly well why they’re attacking here. Neither of us is naive. They’re doing it because she’s my partner.”
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of Spain’s conservative People’s party, said the prime minister was indulging in melodrama when he should be offering explanations about his wife’s legal situation. He described the new letter as “another insult to judges, to the media, and to the intelligence of the Spanish people”.
Santiago Abascal, the leader of the far-right Vox party, was blunter still. “In democratic states, justice is independent,” he wrote in reply. “It is not subject to anyone’s personal interests, nor to any kind of electoral process … If you think this accusation could influence the European elections, maybe you could talk about what’s at stake on 9 June: the future of the European Union.”
