Overview
- A judge ordered María Begoña Gómez to hand over her passport, barred her from travelling abroad and required twice-monthly check-ins with authorities in a ruling issued on Saturday.
- Gómez was indicted in April after a two-year probe and faces charges of embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption and misappropriation linked to a university post said to have been created for her benefit.
- The court said Gómez will be tried before a jury, a step that moves the case closer to a full criminal trial and sets a likely timetable that could stretch into 2027.
- The government and the PSOE accused the investigating judge of political motivation while reporting shows the Prosecutor’s Office had at times sought parts of the investigation to be dropped for lack of evidence.
- The ruling adds to a string of corruption proceedings touching Sánchez’s circle, including a trial of his brother and a pending verdict for a former minister, which together heighten reputational and political risk for the prime minister.