Spain’s prime minister is considering resigning over his wife’s alleged conflict of interest

The Spanish judiciary has opened a preliminary investigation into the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who is suspected of a conflict of interest in the awarding of state contracts.

Sánchez’s wife, Begoňa Gómez, allegedly had ties to several companies that received public money to help combat the effects of the covid-19 pandemic, El Confidencial reported.

In response, the Socialist Prime Minister declared that he trusted the Spanish courts. However, he subsequently stated that he had to decide whether to continue leading the government “or give up this honor”. He added that he would make a decision on Monday, April 29, after considering whether it was worth staying in office “despite the mud in which the right and the far right are trying to transform politics,” the BBC quoted the Spanish prime minister as saying.

Gómez worked in the Africa Center (AC) project run by the private Spanish university Instituto de Empresa (IE). According to the media, in 2021 and 2022 AC received money from the tourism company Globalía, which the Sánchez government approved as part of the rescue package for companies affected by the covid loss of income state aid.

The prime minister’s wife allegedly also had economic ties to the private airline Air Europa, which has the same owner as Globalía. Airlines also received state aid from the Sánchez government in 2020, which in their case amounted to 475 million euros – roughly 11 billion crowns.

The initiative to the court was filed by the organization Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), which describes itself as a trade union of public sector employees. However, according to the government, they are defending the interests of the extreme right. The judge started dealing with the case last week, and intends to hear a number of witnesses in closed proceedings.