BarcelonaThe Begoña Gómez case threatens to be a sticking point for the government of Pedro Sánchez in the coming months, if not years, seeing how justice works.
How does the case start?
The beginning is a denunciation of the ultra organization Manos Limpias built from press headlines. Judge Juan Carlos Peinado gave him the go-ahead on April 16, a few days before Pedro Sánchez published the letter in which he considered resigning. The Prosecutor’s Office asked to file the case, but the judge focused his actions on letters of recommendation that Begoña Gómez had signed as director of a master’s degree at the Complutense University in favor of businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés (who also formed part of the master’s degree) to participate in public competitions. Barrabés obtained contracts worth 12 million euros from the public company Red.es, money that came from European funds. The judge considers that there could be a crime of influence peddling and corruption in business, and that is why he decided to impute the wife of the Spanish president on June 4, summoning her to testify on July 5, which caused a second letter from Sánchez. The European Prosecutor’s Office then claimed the case because it affected community funds. Despite this, Peinado did not want to abandon the case and cited several witnesses, among them Barrabés.
What evidence is there?
The judge asked the Central Operative Unit of the Civil Guard (UCO) to investigate the awards in case it detected any irregularities. The Civil Guard has already sent two reports to the court, in which it states that the awards were made “normally and according to the principles that govern public procurement”. The most delicate evidence for the Spanish government is that Barrabés would have declared in front of the judge, according to the accusations, that he would have met several times with Begoña Gómez in Moncloa and that Sánchez himself would have participated in two of them. Gómez’s defense, however, nuances it. He says that in one of these meetings Sánchez simply came in to say hello and that the other contact was in the context of a meeting with entrepreneurs in the field of innovation.
What is happening at Complutense University?
There is also a report from the Complutense which states that it has not reached any conclusion on whether Gómez would have taken advantage of the university to develop software for his company, but in which he asks the judge to act as the prosecution if he detects some “misappropriation”. On the contrary, the chancellor declared that he had not seen anything strange in Gómez’s performance, which shows that there is an internal war in the university on this issue.
What use does the PP make?
Feijóo was reluctant to bring Sánchez’s wife into the public debate, but after the agreement to renew the General Council of the Judiciary, he has hardened his tone to neutralize Vox’s criticism. The PP is convinced that this case will end up bringing Sánchez down.
2024-07-19 17:58:47
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