A court in Madrid has ordered Begoña Sánchez, the wife of Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, to stand trial on a yet-to-be-set date for corruption charges involving the alleged use of her position as first lady to secure work contracts for private gain.
According to a court order, Judge Juan Carlos Peinado also directed Mrs Gómez to report to court twice monthly, surrender her passport, and barred her from leaving Spain to prevent some of the police officers attached to her as the first lady from helping her flee.
The court, which agreed that there was sufficient evidence requiring Mrs Gomez to trial, stated, “Instructions shall be issued to all border posts and civilian and military airports” to ensure she doesn’t leave the country.
“There’s no doubt that these officers, at a given moment, and acting on their own initiative, or following orders from their superiors, could be the very ones who collaborate in the action or actions carried out to help Gómez flee.”
The case was filed by Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), a legal pressure group set up by a lawyer with far-right links, and the investigation commenced in April 2024, before she was formally charged in April 2026 with embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption in business dealings, and misappropriation of funds.
The case relates to an academic chair at Madrid’s Complutense University that the 55-year-old first lady co-directed, along with allegations that she used public resources and her connections for private business interests.
Mrs Gómez had earlier described the allegations as baseless, a politically motivated smear, and an “obscene farce”, while her husband, an outspoken leftist leader in Europe, who has refused to yield to calls to step down as prime minister, accused political and media opponents of targeting his family and has also publicly challenged the impartiality of some of the judiciary members.
Mr Sánchez’s left-wing Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), reacting to the ruling, said, “(Begoña) has been subjected to judicial and political persecution for two years. Today’s development is another step in that process.”
