MADRID: A Madrid court announced on Wednesday that it has initiated a preliminary investigation into Begona Gomez, the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, on suspicions of influence peddling and corruption.
The court’s statement stated that the investigation focused on allegations of influence peddling and corruption in business, was opened on April 16 following a complaint lodged by Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), an anti-corruption advocacy group associated with the far-right.
This announcement comes in the wake of a report by online news outlet El Confidencial, which suggested that investigators are examining Gomez’s connections to various private companies that purportedly received funds or government contracts. Specifically, the probe is said to be probing Gomez’s alleged ties to the Spanish tourism conglomerate Globalia, which owns Air Europa.
These alleged ties are believed to have occurred during discussions between the government and Air Europa regarding a substantial bailout amid the COVID-19 pandemic’s severe impact on air travel. Gomez, during that period, was affiliated with the IE Africa Center, a foundation associated with Madrid’s Instituto de Empresa (IE) business school. She concluded her tenure with the center in 2022.
According to El Confidencial’s report, the IE Africa Center had entered into a sponsorship agreement with Globalia in 2020, and Gomez purportedly had a private meeting with Globalia’s CEO, Javier Hidalgo, at the company’s premises. This meeting reportedly coincided with Globalia’s negotiations for a multi-million euro bailout from the government.
