Spanish prosecutors request full acquittal for Begoña Gómez ahead of jury trial

Prosecutor finds no criminal offence

The Madrid Provincial Prosecutor's Office submitted its provisional conclusions to the Madrid Provincial Court on 7 October 2026, requesting the full acquittal of Begoña Gómez, wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and her adviser Cristina Álvarez. In a 32-page legal document, the public prosecutor stated that the investigated acts do not constitute any criminal infraction. The prosecutor argued that without an underlying crime there can be no perpetrator, precluding both criminal culpability and any civil liability. The submission constitutes a procedural step ahead of the forthcoming trial by jury, for which a start date remains to be scheduled.

The prosecution outlined its legal position directly in the filing.

The narrated facts are not constitutive of a criminal offence.

University chair and software ownership

The judicial proceedings centre on an extraordinary university chair that Gómez co-directed at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) between 2020 and 2024. According to the prosecutor, Gómez had been teaching on an internal master's program at UCM since 2012, prior to Sánchez becoming prime minister. The filing noted that her co-direction of the chair was an unremunerated role for which she received zero euros in compensation, refuting the allegation of public fund embezzlement. Furthermore, the software developed for the chair with private corporate sponsorship remained registered under UCM's name, preventing any private appropriation. The prosecution added that under current regulations, extraordinary chairs exist to attract private funding, and holding a formal degree, civil servant status, or professorship is not required to participate or co-direct.

Advisory role and Moncloa precedents

The prosecutor also defended Cristina Álvarez, a Moncloa staff member accused of acting as a necessary co-operator in the alleged diversion of the software for Gómez's private activities. The filing noted that assistant positions for the prime minister's spouse represent trust-based appointments used across Spanish democratic administrations since 1978. Each administration since the transition to democracy has maintained at least one person performing support functions without an explicit statutory regulation. These duties require permanent availability and dedicated organizational support, covering schedule management, attendance at meetings, visits, document handling, travel accompaniment, and coordination with protocol, security, and foreign affairs teams. The prosecutor rejected the thesis that Álvarez's management of emails relating to UCM business transformed her employment into a fraudulent hiring or an act of embezzlement.

Judicial background and requested penalties

Judge Juan Carlos Peinado ordered the opening of the oral jury trial in September 2026, shortly before his mandatory retirement, following an inquiry initiated in April 2024 on a complaint from the Manos Limpias organization. Peinado concluded that Gómez used her spousal connection to establish special ties with university leaders, corporate sponsors, and technology firms.

Gómez would have taken advantage of her proximity to the Prime Minister to advance her professional profile within the Complutense University of Madrid environment, obtaining singular dialogue with heads of a public university, sponsoring companies, and technology sector entities.

In the upcoming proceedings, the popular prosecution led by the Hazte Oír association has requested a 13-year prison sentence for Gómez and a 6-year sentence for Álvarez, whereas defence attorneys have petitioned for their full acquittal.