The Provincial Court of Madrid has rejected the appeals by Begoña Gómez, wife of President Pedro Sánchez, and her advisor Cristina Álvarez against their embezzlement charges. The court finds sufficient indications in Álvarez's appointment as assistant, questioning her role beyond protocol duties. This decision keeps alive the investigation started by Judge Juan Carlos Peinado.
The Provincial Court of Madrid, in an order notified on December 19, 2025, has dismissed the appeals filed by Begoña Gómez and Cristina Álvarez against Judge Juan Carlos Peinado's providencia from last August, which charged them with embezzlement. The investigating judge is examining whether Álvarez, hired as an advisor at La Moncloa, used her public position to assist Gómez in private activities at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, such as managing her extraordinary chair in Competitive Social Transformation.
The magistrates of Section 23 argue that Álvarez's appointment, as Gómez's close friend, is "doubtful" and could be the first indication of embezzlement. "It would be the first time in this type of appointment that it does not fall on a protocol expert official, for the best performance of the function, but on a person of her utmost trust, not to guide her steps through a complicated world of formalities, ceremonies, and official acts, but to ensure the faithful fulfillment of the supposedly proposed end, attending to her particular interests, with consequent harm to public patrimony," they state in the resolution.
The court highlights that Álvarez's activity seemed to extend 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which they consider "excessive, more akin to a friend interested in lucrative matters than to the cold task of the agenda manager and other protocol affairs." Although Gómez's defense, led by former minister Antonio Camacho, claimed only three emails related to the university, the court deems them irrelevant, as other communication methods like meetings and calls are under investigation. A message from Álvarez to a chair financier, requesting continued economic support, is noted as significant.
The instruction remains open, and the judge could reclassify the offense to others such as influence peddling or corruption in business. Previously, the same Court revoked the embezzlement charge against Francisco Martínez, the Government Delegate in Madrid, and the Supreme Court dismissed investigating it against Minister Félix Bolaños. Opposition sources point to a similar precedent with Jaime de los Santos, assistant to Mariano Rajoy's wife, who was not a protocol expert and faced no charges, illustrating potential inconsistencies in such appointments.
