Spain, corruption investigation into Prime Minister Sanchez’s wife. You’re in a storm, are you resigning? – The weather

Storm and chaos in Spain. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has canceled his public agenda and is considering whether to resign because his wife, Begona Gòmez, has been investigated for corruption and influence peddling crimes. The political leader will communicate his decision next Monday, April 29th. The shock announcement came with an open letter to citizens that the prime minister made public a few hours following a Madrid court had opened an investigation once morest his wife, following the complaint from an organization called Manos Limpias. According to El Confidencial, investigators are investigating Gòmez’s ties to several private companies that have received government funding or won public contracts. An investigation is linked to the alleged links that Gòmez – who does not hold public office and keeps a low profile – had with a Spanish tourism group, Globalia, which owns Air Europa. Gòmez reportedly met twice with Javier Hidalgo, Globalia’s CEO at the time, when the carrier was in negotiations with the government for a huge bailout following the collapse of air traffic due to the Covid-19 crisis. In particular, Gòmez apparently met privately with Javier Hidalgo, the CEO of the tourism holding, before the Sànchez government granted the Hidalgo family’s airline, Air Europa, a bailout of 475 million euros. According to El Confidencial, Sànchez participated in the Council of Ministers which authorized the release of the money.

The prime minister regretted the “unprecedented” attack on his wife, asked himself whether it was worth continuing and added that he needed to “stop and reflect” with his wife. «I urgently need to answer the question of whether it is worth it, despite the quagmire into which the right and far right intend to transform politics. Whether to continue leading the government or resign from this high honor,” Sanchez said. «I’m not naive. I know well that they accuse Begona not because she has done something illegal, because they know very well that this is not true, but because she is my wife”, the position is taken. Born in 1995 as a union of public sector employees, Manos Limpias gained notoriety for a series of complaints on political issues. The organization is led by Miguel Bernad, a controversial figure for his ties to the far right.

A government source told El Pais that “the professional activity of the wife of the head of government is impeccable” and that Manos Limpias’ complaint “is based on hoaxes and false news, and therefore lacks any legal basis and responds to a strategy of the right and the far right”. The controversy comes at a time of strong polarization in Spanish politics, in which tensions have increasingly increased following the July elections: despite the narrow result, Sanchez managed to maintain power, but accepted an agreement of amnesty in favor of Catalan independentists in exchange for the votes of Carles Puigdemont’s separatist party.