In a Spanish court, there is an investigation into allegations of corruption against Prime Minister Sanchez’s wife

In a brief statement, the court said it had “opened an investigation into allegations of influence peddling and business corruption against Begona Gomez.”

It said the investigation, which is “subject to secrecy”, was launched on April 16 following a complaint from the anti-corruption watchdog Manos Limpias (“Clean Hands”), whose leader is linked to the far right.

The court’s statement came hours after the online news site El Confidencial published an article that said investigators were looking into Mr. Gomez’s ties to several private companies that received funds or procurement contracts from the government.

It said the investigation was about Mr Gomez’s alleged links to Spanish tourism group Globalia, which owns Air Europa.

The ties are believed to have been made as the airline negotiated with the government for a massive financial bailout as it suffered during the COVID-19 crisis, which saw air travel severely curtailed.

At the time, Mr. Gomez headed the IE Africa Center, a foundation affiliated with the Madrid business school Instituto de Empresa (IE); she left this position in 2022.

El Confidencial said that the IE Africa Center “signed a sponsorship agreement with Globalia for 2020” and that Gomez also “met privately with its CEO, Javier Hidalgo, at the company’s office. At the same time, Globalia was negotiating with the government for multimillion-dollar support.”

Manos Limpias said Ms Gomez used her influence as the prime minister’s wife to allegedly secure sponsors for a university postgraduate course she was running.

Confirming the news, Mr Sanchez told MPs he had faith in the justice system. “On a day like today, and despite the news I’ve heard, despite everything, I still believe in justice in my country,” he said.

The organization that filed the complaint, Manos Limpias, is headed by lawyer Miguel Bernads, who was sentenced to four years in prison in 2021 for participating in an extortion scheme for large companies. However, the Supreme Court acquitted him last month due to lack of evidence.