Javier Milei’s trip to Spain generated diplomatic tensions when the Argentine head of state, after suffering a series of attacks from Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, recalled that his wife, Begoña Gómezis being investigated for “corruption” and “influence trafficking”.
“Global elites don’t realize how destructive it can be to implement the ideas of socialism (…), even if the woman is corrupt, gets dirty and takes five days to think about it,” said Milei at the convention organized by the Spanish party Vox, on Sunday (19), in Madrid.
In this way, the liberal economist referred to the five-day break that Sánchez decided to take at the end of April to reflect on his possible resignation, after his wife’s case became public.
After the Argentine president’s speech, Sanchez published a video on his X account (formerly Twitter) and demanded that Milei rectify his statements. “Spain and Argentina are two brotherly countries whose people love and respect each other. Between governments, affection is free, but respect is inalienable,” wrote Sánchez.
For his part, the libertarian leader refused to make any apology. “I will not apologize,” he told Argentine television channel TN. Milei stated that he has been “systematically” attacked by members of Sánchez’s team, who have called him a “fascist” and accused him of “ingesting substances.”
On Tuesday (21), Spain definitively withdrew its ambassador in Buenos Aires, María Jesús Alonso Jiménez. Minutes after the announcement, in an interview with the LN+ channel, the Argentine president called Sánchez a “fatally arrogant socialist”. Milei said that “all the complaints and attacks came from him [Sánchez] and his government before the elections” and that “his position is encouraged by Kirchnerism to generate internal problems”. The economist also suggested a “good lawyer for Begoña, because she has many cases in which she is suspected of influence peddling.”
The investigation against Gómez
The Instructional Court No. 41 of Madrid, on April 16, 2024, began an investigation into the alleged practice of crimes of influence peddling and business corruption against Begoña Gómez after receiving a complaint from the organization Mãos Limpas (Manos Limpias, in Spanish). The investigation process was declared confidential, as reported in a note from the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid.
The organization’s complaint was based on eight media publications about business between Gómez and private companies, including Globalia and Air Europa, which received funds and public contracts from the current Government.
According to the newspaper El Confidencial, Gómez would have held a series of meetings with Javier Hidalgo, CEO of Globalia, the company that owns the airline Air Europa, which was rescued by the Government with loans worth 615 million euros in 2020.
In the same period, the Africa Center of the University Business Institute (IE), then headed by the President’s wife, signed a sponsorship agreement with Globalia worth 40 thousand euros per year, which included the delivery of 15 thousand euros per year in flights first class for Gómez and his team.
The organization Mãos Limpas also highlighted that Air Europa had a debt with the Treasury of 55 million, which prevents it from receiving new assistance until the debt is paid off, or at least it enters into a payment plan with the government.
In turn, Gómez would also have written a letter of recommendation in favor of a Temporary Business Union (UTE) formed by two private companies. One of its main shareholders was businessman Carlos Barrabés, who identifies himself as a collaborator in the connections between Begoña and Air Europa.
This letter of recommendation helped the two companies win a €7 million government contract. Soon, Gómez signed a second letter of recommendation from Barrabés for the award of a second contract, in this case for 4.4 million euros.
In her complaint, Mãos Limpas states that Begoña, “taking advantage” of her relationship with her husband, recommended or endorsed “through a letter of recommendation with her signature to businesspeople who participated in public tenders”.
Mãos Limpas is an organization that presents itself as a Spanish union of public employees. It was founded in the ’90s with the declared purpose of combating corruption in Spain.
Who is Begoña Gómez
Begoña Gómez was born in 1975, in Bilbao, in the Basque Country. She studied marketing at ESIC Business & Marketing School in Madrid, and then completed a master’s degree in business administration, specializing in fundraising for non-governmental organizations.
In 1999, she began working as an advisor for entities and companies such as Amnesty International, Intermón Oxfam, Deutsche Bank and Old El Paso. For more than 18 years she worked as a strategy and team building consultant at the Inmark Group, until 2019.
Gómez served as director of the Extraordinary Chair of Competitive Social Transformation and the Directorate of Raising Public and Private Resources in Non-Profit Organizations, at the Complutense University of Madrid.
In turn, Sánchez’s wife directed the Africa Center of the University Business Institute (IE) between 2018 and 2022, where the irregularities reported by the Mãos Limpas organization allegedly occurred.
Gómez and Sánchez got married in 2006. The woman followed her husband’s political rise and always tried not to expose herself too much in the media. Together they became parents to two teenage daughters named Ainhoa and Carlota.
In Spain, the partner of the head of government is not considered first lady, therefore lacking a public position or official position. However, Gómez has already accompanied Sánchez at official ceremonies, such as the gala dinner of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in Madrid and the G-20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia.
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