Laurence Dollimore
SPAIN has been plunged into uncertainty after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced he is considering his position this evening.
The PSOE leader wrote in an open letter that he has cancelled all public duties until Monday – when he will decide whether or not to continue in his role.
The decision came just hours after a case was filed against his wife for alleged ‘influence peddling’.
Sanchez branded the accusations an attack from right and far right forces and said he no longer knew whether being the PM is ‘worth it’.
READ IN ENGLISH: Pedro Sanchez’s furious letter in full
He branded the complaints against his wife as ‘baseless’, insisting that they were only filed as an attempt to ‘deligitimise’ his role as prime minister.
He wrote: “In short, it is an operation of harassment and demolition by land, sea and air, to try and weaken me politically and personally by attacking my wife.
“I’m not naive. I am aware that they are denouncing Begoña not because she has done something illegal, they know there is no case, but because she is my wife.
“As I am also fully aware that the attacks I suffer are not against me but rather against what I represent: a progressive political option, supported election after election by millions of Spaniards, based on economic progress, social justice and democratic regeneration.”
The complaint against Begoña Gomez has been filed in Madrid by the Manos Limpias(Clean Hands) trade union representing public service employees.
Since being formed in 1995, Manos Limpias has built up a reputation for filing complaints and legal challenges over the behaviour of politicians and public servants that work for them.
In its complaint over Gomez, Manos Limpias says that she had a friendship with a businessman- Carlos Barrabes- who received government contracts.
His consulting firm- in a temporary merger with another firm- was awarded contracts in 2020 and 2021 by the public entity Red.es that looks to enhance employment within the digital sector.
Carlos Barrabes got the express backing of Begoña Gomez, who wrote a letter endorsing her support for the company.
Gomez is co-director of the Master’s Degree in Competitive Social Transformation at the Complutense University of Madrid, which is promoted by Barrabes.
The letter sent by Gomez said: “The management of the Master’s Degree is aware of the initiative of Barrabes and The Valley, promoted by Red.es and ESF (European Social Fund).”
“By means of this letter, we express our support for this programme, which seeks to find, train and incorporate unemployed young people into the digital market,” it continued.
Barrabes’ consultancy was subsequently awarded the contract and gained the highest ratings during the assessment procedure.
Begoña Gomez’s activities have also been called into question by her relationship with Spanish tourist group Globalia, which has sponsored her career, and which got over €600 million of public money to rescue its then-struggling airline, Air Europa.
Manos Limpias has asked the Madrid investigating court to summon Gomez to testify and that statements be taken from several witnesses and that documentation on public contracts be collected.
The announcement of the court probe was raised in Congress and mentioned by Gomez’s husband, Pedro Sanchez in response to a question about the confidence he has in the Spanish judicial system.
