Begoña Gómez, wife of Spain's PM, ordered to face jury trial on influence‑peddling and embezzlement

Spain’s Audiencia Provincial de Madrid confirmed that Begoña Gómez, the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, will be tried before a popular jury on the crimes of influence‑peddling and embezzlement. The court lifted the restrictive measures imposed earlier – the travel ban, the surrender of her passport and the requirement to report bi‑weekly – and dismissed the accusations of corruption in business and appropriation.

Nine jurors will be chosen from a pre‑selected list of 2,846 Madrid residents through a random draw. The decision also includes the indictment of Gómez’s adviser, Cristina Álvarez, for a related embezzlement case involving software linked to a university chair, while businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés has been removed from the jury‑trial phase.

The ruling is viewed as a significant political setback for Sánchez’s minority government, which has repeatedly described the investigations as politically motivated. Prosecutors and the opposition alike see the case as a test of Spain’s justice system and its handling of high‑level corruption.