The Madrid Provincial Prosecutor’s Office has appealed the processing of the complaint filed by Manos Limpias against Begoña Gómez, the wife of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez. The public ministry has challenged the decision made by the judge of the Madrid 41st Investigation Court and has requested the Provincial Court to revoke the judicial resolution that admits the complaint and to close the case. This complaint has caused a political earthquake following the President’s decision to take a few days of “reflection” to decide whether to resign or remain in office. Sources of the investigation, which has been declared secret, indicate that the Prosecutor’s Office argues that the complaint does not provide any evidence that points to the alleged crimes of influence trafficking and corruption as claimed by Manos Limpias. The organization itself admitted in a press release that their complaint may be based on false information.
The decision of whether to close the case against Sánchez’s wife, as demanded by the public ministry, or to maintain the processing ordered by Judge Juan Carlos Peinado, who has declared the case secret and has called several witnesses to testify, now rests with the Madrid Provincial Court. The public ministry could have appealed to the judge to reconsider his decision, but chose to skip this step and go directly to the provincial court. The Prosecutor’s Office is challenging the ruling made by the judge on April 16, formalizing the processing of the complaint by Manos Limpias. It was noted that the Prosecutor’s Office was only informed of this ruling at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, when the news of the investigation against Begoña Gómez had already been dominating political debates and media headlines. It was also unusual for witnesses to be called to testify and for the case to be declared secret before informing the public ministry.
The complaint filed by Manos Limpias on April 8, as reported by El País, is based on information from various media outlets such as El Confidencial, Vozpópuli, Libertad Digital, and The Objective. These sources allegedly suggest that the President’s wife may have committed a crime by “recommending or endorsing businessmen who were bidding on public contracts” through her professional activities at the Instituto de Empresa and the Complutense University of Madrid, exploiting her personal status. The accusations by Manos Limpias rely solely on conservative media reports, as acknowledged by the organization’s general secretary, Miguel Bernad, who stated that their claims are based on these publications. The document submitted to the court is a seven-page report signed by Bernad.
Manos Limpias has a history of filing complaints based solely on newspaper reports, a practice that has been condemned by the Supreme Court. The court has ruled multiple times against the use of judicial processes for this purpose and established that such complaints should not be processed without additional factual evidence. The court has upheld this decision since 2000 and reiterated it in February of this year when dismissing complaints against the Minister of Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, filed by Vox and the Solidarity Union for Workers of Spain. The judiciary emphasized the need for concrete evidence rather than just press clippings to initiate legal proceedings based on accusations.
Manos Limpias has faced criticism for their reliance on unverified media reports to file complaints, and the case against Begoña Gómez continues to raise questions about the validity of their allegations. The decision to appeal the processing of the complaint against the President’s wife has implications for the ongoing political debates regarding the future of the current government. The outcome of the appeal to the Madrid Provincial Court will determine whether the case against Gómez is closed or if further investigations will be conducted. The controversy surrounding this case highlights the complexities of legal proceedings based on media reports and the importance of substantiated evidence in criminal investigations.
