Prosecutors seek 13-year prison term for Spain's Begoña Gómez, down from 24, after court narrows charges

Revised charges

The popular prosecution led by the ultra-Catholic association Hazte Oír submitted a new provisional indictment on Monday 27 July 2026, requesting 13 years in prison for Begoña Gómez, the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The filing follows a ruling by the Provincial Court of Madrid that upheld the case against Gómez but narrowed the charges from four to two: one count of influence peddling and two counts of embezzlement of public funds. The earlier indictment had sought 24 years.

The court dismissed charges of corruption in business and misappropriation, which had carried proposed sentences of four and six years respectively. The revised indictment now seeks two years for influence peddling, three years for continuous embezzlement related to the use of her Moncloa assistant for private tasks, and eight years for aggravated embezzlement concerning the alleged diversion of software developed for her university chair.

It seems perfectly plausible to maintain that she achieved the influence deployed from her privileged position as the wife of the Prime Minister, not only to secure the granting of the chair, but to do so almost immediately and without verifying a minimum control over the consistency of the proposed project.

The role of the assistant

Cristina Álvarez, Gómez's assistant at the Moncloa palace, faces a requested sentence of six years in prison and 15 years of absolute disqualification. The prosecution considers her a "necessary cooperator" in the embezzlement involving the software. The indictment alleges Álvarez sent emails on Gómez's behalf and performed professional tasks for Gómez's private activities linked to the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) chair.

The software and the chair

The case centres on two main pillars. The first is the creation of an extraordinary chair in Competitive Social Transformation at UCM, which the prosecution argues Gómez secured by leveraging her position as the Prime Minister's spouse. The indictment describes a meeting at Moncloa with the UCM rector where the chair was allegedly conceived and Gómez's appointment as director was arranged, with academic requirements reportedly overlooked.

The second pillar concerns the alleged private use of software developed with public funds for the chair. The Provincial Court reclassified this conduct from misappropriation to embezzlement, prompting the prosecution to adjust its request to eight years for aggravated embezzlement. Gómez also faces a requested 20-year absolute disqualification, a 10-year ban on receiving public subsidies or contracting with the administration, and a four-year suspension from public employment.

Witnesses requested

Hazte Oír has asked the court to call Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts, Félix Bolaños, as witnesses at the trial. The prosecution cites Sánchez's relationship with the accused and what it describes as the use of Moncloa as a relational setting for the project. The businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés, for whom Gómez wrote letters of recommendation, is no longer included in this indictment; the investigation into him over public contracts continues in a separate proceeding.

Next steps

The case will proceed before a popular jury, as upheld by the Madrid court. Judge Juan Carlos Peinado, who has been leading the investigation, instructed the parties to submit revised indictments after the appellate ruling. The trial date has not yet been set.