Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his wife Begoña Gómez – Photo: Javier Soriano / AFP
The unfolding government crisis in Spain may be resolved. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez retired from public life and even announced his resignation after the court began investigating his wife’s involvement in a corruption case. All that was known about the charges against Begoña Gómez was that they were investigating suspicions of influence peddling and corruption. On Thursday, however, the Madrid prosecutor’s office asked the court to terminate the investigation citing a lack of evidence suggesting a crime, reports MTI.
The organization Manios Limpios (Clean Hands) appealed to the court earlier. In their announcement, they admitted that they contacted the authorities based on a newspaper article. According to the article in question, the Africa Center education center run by the wife of the Spanish Prime Minister signed a sponsorship agreement with Globalia, the company that owns Air Europa, in 2020. The state gave the airline a lifeline worth 475 million euros in November 2020 due to restrictions due to the coronavirus epidemic. In addition, the prime minister’s wife wrote a letter of support to a temporary company association that was launched in a public procurement process and won, the majority shareholder of which participated in the creation of the master’s program currently led by Gómez at the Complutense University in Madrid.
In his open letter to the voters, Pedro Sánchez made it clear that he does not think there is any case of corruption. The attacks are actually directed against the progressive political option he represents “based on economic progress, social justice and democratic renewal,” which “has been supported by millions of Spaniards election after election,” he wrote.
Alberto Núnez Feijóo, the president of the conservative People’s Party (PP), which is considered the largest opposition force, called the prime minister’s move a “political survival action” and called on him to explain the alleged corruption cases affecting his environment. Meanwhile, Juan Lobato, leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), which governs in the coalition, has announced a demonstration to show their support for the prime minister.
