Trending 
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s wife, Begona Gomez, formally learned on Monday that she will stand trial for alleged graft and influence peddling, with her lawyer representing her at the court hearing. Gomez previously attended a similar notification hearing last month for a separate alleged embezzlement case, citing a legal provision that allows defendants to skip such hearings in person.
The investigation, opened in April 2024 by Judge Juan Carlos Peinado, examines whether Gomez used her position as the prime minister’s spouse for personal gain. Initially focused on allegations that she secured funding for a university master’s programme she headed, the probe has since expanded to scrutinise whether a state-funded assistant assigned to her performed tasks for her private university work. Gomez has denied any wrongdoing, but the case has added pressure to Sanchez’s minority coalition government.
Other corruption probes are also ongoing in Spain, implicating former Socialist Party figures Santos Cerdan and Jose Luis Abalos, as well as the prime minister’s brother, David Sanchez. Cerdan and Abalos’s former aide, Koldo García, are due to appear before a judge next week over alleged kickbacks-for-contracts involving public works, following a police report suggesting potential illicit income for Abalos.
