Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Wednesday in a “letter to the people” that he was considering resigning from the government, citing months of right-wing attacks on his family.
“I am not attached to this post… due to my sense of duty and commitment to public service”
The Spanish prime minister's decision comes hours after Spanish media reported that a Madrid judge had opened a preliminary investigation into whether his wife Begonia Comet used her government connections to advance his private business interests.
On Wednesday morning, the Court of First Instance in Madrid accepted the case filed by a well-known far-right group, which continues to file cases on every issue, and most of them fall into the void against the wife of Pedro Sánchez. .
In a letter to Sánchez X, he announced that he was suspending his political agenda for several days to “reflect.” “I need time to think and decide whether I will continue as head of government or renounce this high honor,” Sánchez wrote in a four-page letter on his X account.
Letter to Citizens. pic.twitter.com/c2nFxTXQTK
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) April 24, 2024
Spain's prime minister says he and his wife are victims of attacks by the right and far-right. “I urgently need to answer a question I ask myself: Is it worth staying in office despite the mudslinging of the right and far right?”
“Despite the caricature of entitlement about my person, I am not attached to this post… my commitment to a sense of duty and public service,” adds the Spanish prime minister.
Sanchez concluded his letter by saying that he will address the nation on Monday (29/4) and reveal whether or not he will resign.
After a complaint by a far-right group
A judge in Madrid has opened an investigation into Begonia Comet for possible influence peddling and corruption in his personal business dealings.
The process began after Manos Limbias, or “Clean Hands,” was filed by a union linked to ultranationalist groups notorious for filing legal challenges linked to far-right causes.
According to online news website El Confidential, the initial investigation looked into Begonia Comet's ties to private companies that received state aid during the Covid-19 crisis or signed contracts with the government when her husband was head of government. .
In the complaint, Manos Limbias, Gometh had a relationship with an influential businessman who with his help obtained contracts from the Spanish public administration.
What is complaining?
The businessman named in the complaint is Carlos Parabez, whose consulting company – in a temporary union with another company – received contracts in 2020 and 2021 from Red.es, a public organization owned by the Ministry of Economy.
As noted in the complaint, El Confidencial reported, Parabez had the express support of Comet, who endorsed the company in a letter.
Investigators are particularly interested in his ties to Globalia, the Spanish travel group owned by Air Europa, which is currently in talks with the government to secure aid following a major drop in air traffic caused by the health crisis.
At the time, Begonia Gomet directed the IE Africa Center, an institution linked to the Madrid IE University Business School, which she left in 2022.
According to El Confidential, the IE Africa Center “signed a sponsorship agreement with Globalia in 2020” and Begonia Gomet “participated in a private meeting with its CEO Javier Intaglco at a time when Globalia was negotiating its multi-million dollar rescue plan. Euros with the government”.
The plan allowed Air Europa to pay 475 million euros in November 2020.
