Judge Orders Trial for Begoña Gómez, Seizes Passport, Requires Periodic Court Appearances

Investigating Judge Juan Carlos Peinado has ordered a trial for Begoña Gómez, the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, on charges including influence peddling, business corruption, embezzlement, and misappropriation of public funds. The decision was detailed in a ruling issued on Saturday.

As part of the precautionary measures, Judge Peinado has ordered that Gómez's passport be revoked, prohibiting her from leaving Spanish territory. She is also required to appear before the court every 15 days. The same measures have been applied to Cristina Álvarez, Gómez's advisor, who is also facing charges for the same alleged offenses, and to businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés, accused of influence peddling and private sector business corruption.

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not constitutive of any crime

This development follows a preliminary hearing last Monday, after which Gómez's defense team requested her acquittal, asserting that the alleged facts do not constitute any crime and that the accusations are made in bad faith. The Public Prosecutor's Office had previously requested the case be dismissed and indicated it would seek acquittal for all three investigated individuals if a trial were ordered.

The judge's decision to proceed to trial comes after a separate investigation was opened into contracts involving Barrabés, as reported by El Debate. The Universidad Complutense de Madrid, acting as a private accuser in the case, had requested that Gómez be brought to trial.

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bad faith