THE TELEGRAPH
Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez is threatening to force media organisations which accused his wife of corruption to disclose their financial backers, it has been claimed.
Mr Sanchez announced a “democratic regeneration” plan which proposes compelling the media to publish the source of public funding which they receive and the identity of their owners.
The proposed law change comes after a series of reports in online media relating to the prime minister’s wife Begona Gomez.
In April, a court opened a preliminary investigation into allegations of business corruption and influence peddling involving Ms Gomez, who will appear in court in Madrid on Friday. Her husband has said she has done no wrong.
The original complaint was filed by anti-corruption activist group “Manos Limpias” (Clean Hands) using a legal instrument known as “the people’s accusation”, which lets private individuals bring criminal complaints against third parties.
Far-right party Vox and Iustitia Europa, a group best known for its activism against the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, later joined the lawsuit brought by Manos Limpias.
Ms Gomez has not commented publicly on the case but Mr Sanchez has repeatedly and vehemently denied the accusations against his wife, saying they were baseless and orchestrated by right-wing political opponents.
At a hearing on July 5, Ms Gomez’s lawyer Antonio Camacho said: “She is perfectly fine as are people who are innocent, notwithstanding the fact that this is something unpleasant.”
The court has said the ongoing investigation seeks to evaluate Ms Gomez’s conduct since Mr Sanchez became prime minister in 2018.
At the time the judicial probe was launched, Mr Sanchez’s reaction was to take five days off official duties to consider his future but he then returned to his post.
He accused Right-wing politicians, the media and the judge investigating Ms Gomez of actively conspiring to overthrow him.
“Democracy has old enemies but with new tools that question reality with hoaxes,” Mr Sanchez told the Spanish parliament on Wednesday.
“Enemies of democracy use fake news to poison our coexistence.”
The Spanish government will canvas the opinion of other political parties on the proposed media law change before voting in parliament.
Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, the leader of the conservative opposition People’s Party (PP), said the prime minister was only targeting the media for personal reasons.
“If the media tells the truth, you discredit them. The only reason this debate is taking place is because the prime minister’s wife is being investigated in court,” he said.
In March, the online newspaper El Confidencial ran a series of stories about Ms Gomez’s relationship with executives from Globalia, a sponsor of Africa Centre, whose airline subsidiary Air Europa received €475 million (£398 million) of pandemic bailout funds in 2020. Ms Gomez worked for Africa Centre as a consultant between 2018 and 2022.
In a joint statement in March, Globalia and Air Europa said the aid received from the Spanish government was “in line with the parameters of other aid received by different companies in the sector in Spain and the rest of Europe”, and it considered itself a victim of “political crossfire”.
Spain’s conflict of interest office cleared Mr Sanchez after the PP said he should have recused himself from the cabinet meeting at which the bailout was approved.
The Spanish government has pointed out that a police investigation, carried out in response to the judge’s probe, found no evidence of wrongdoing by Ms Gomez.
Madrid’s public prosecution authority appealed against the opening of the investigation, and a higher court has confined the probe to the letters of reference for public contracts, leaving the Air Europa bailout out of the proceedings.
