Spanish PM's wife tells court she is innocent in corruption case

Madrid: The wife of Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Begona Gomez, on Wednesday denied allegations of corruption and influence-peddling linked to her teaching business in her first testimony in court since an investigation began in April.

The probe, along with another corruption case allegedly implicating a former minister, has led the opposition to demand Sanchez's resignation and increased political polarization in Spain, where he leads a minority leftist government.

In the closed-door hearing, Gomez only answered questions put by her lawyer Antonio Camacho, a former interior minister.

On a previous occasion in July, Gomez appeared before the investigating Judge Juan Carlos Peinado but declined to testify, as did her husband.

The proceedings are part of an investigation into whether Gomez used her position as the premier's wife to secure sponsors for a university master's degree course that she ran, bypassing a public bidding process. She has not been charged with any crimes.

"My client has testified, as she's wanted to since the very beginning, because she has nothing to hide. If she did not testify before it is because there was a lack of definition about what was being investigated," Camacho told reporters after the hearing.

He said Gomez had "explained that she never knew about the existence of these public bidding processes" and that she "never intervened at all" nor was aware when those were awarded.

She also said that any meetings she may have held to discuss the university course in the official prime minister's residence were due to mobility restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, so she had to meet people at her home.

The case was brought in a private complaint by Manos Limpias, or Clean Hands, an anti-corruption activist group led by Miguel Bernad, a lawyer and politician who has stood as a candidate for a far-right party in European elections. Several others later joined.

Sanchez, a Socialist, has repeatedly dismissed the accusations against his wife as baseless and orchestrated by right-wing political foes.

In late April, Sanchez took a five-day break from his duties to weigh whether to resign after the court opened the investigation, but ultimately decided to stay on.