Begoña Gómez makes surprise speech at PSOE campaign launch in Seville

A surprise appearance on stage

Begoña Gómez, the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, took the microphone unannounced at the Socialist Party (PSOE) rally in Seville that opened the campaign for the general election on 29 November. Party leaders had hinted at a surprise, and she spoke before Sánchez and the leader of the Andalusian socialists. Reports describe an audience of thousands of militants and supporters, with El Confidencial putting it at about 4,000 people at the Fibes auditorium. It was the first time Gómez has addressed a PSOE rally, and she presented herself to the crowd as "a rank-and-file militant". She is awaiting trial by jury on alleged influence peddling and embezzlement, in proceedings led by judge Juan Carlos Peinado. Gómez had also appeared with Sánchez at a rally in Fuenlabrada on 17 October, where he publicly declared his love for her and the two kissed.

Her message to women militants

Gómez framed her speech around feminism and women's autonomy. She said women had for too long been treated as "señoras de", a phrase referring to women defined by their husbands, and that this stage had ended because women are now the authors of their own lives. She also thanked party members who had supported her through the judicial process, saying that letters had come from across Spain and even the United States, many of them from women. She put her central point to the female militants directly:

“Nobody should decide for us. We define our own path, no matter who objects or what they say.”

She also recalled the support she had received during the case, describing the people who had offered her help when she needed it.

“Nobody walks if there is not a person willing to give you a hug and a hand.”

Political reaction and campaign framing

Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who also leads the PP in Madrid, mocked the appearance during the opening of her party's own campaign at the Galería de Cristal of Madrid city hall. She said she would miss being seen so much on Radio Televisión Española, which she linked to the "obsessions" of Sánchez. She suggested Gómez would now be a candidate for rector or for anything else, and joked about classes in what she called sauna management with a happy ending. Ayuso's sharpest jab concerned the university, and she said of Gómez:

“They have put a university T-shirt on her and have her talking, giving lessons.”

El Confidencial reported that the PSOE chose to focus its campaign on Gómez in an effort to win over women voters, a group it described as decisive for the party's 2023 election result. The rally was framed around the slogan "The strength of women", according to La Vanguardia. The PSOE also released a new campaign video on the party's female pioneers just before she took the stage.

What comes next

El Mundo described Sánchez as the candidate seeking re-election, with the rally serving as his bid for momentum. The general election is scheduled for 29 November, and the reports do not say when Gómez's jury trial will begin. El Mundo said she did not explicitly mention the investigation in her speech but linked the process implicitly to a sexist persecution. The timeline below places her recent appearances alongside the election date.