Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the president of the Madrid region, has described the Spanish government's seat at La Moncloa as a "Caribbean soap opera" while criticizing judicial proceedings involving Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's inner circle. During a news forum breakfast on Thursday, Ayuso referenced multiple legal cases, including the investigation into Sánchez's wife Begoña Gómez for alleged misappropriation of funds, which a judge ruled would be heard by a popular jury if it goes to trial. She also mentioned cases involving the prosecutor general, Santos Cerdán, and Sánchez's brother.
Ayuso questioned the credibility of accusations against her own partner, Alberto González Amador, who faces trial for tax fraud, accounting crimes, document falsification, and alleged membership in a criminal organization. She argued that attributing the latter charge to him serves the interests of the Socialist Party (PSOE) and Más Madrid. The Madrid leader claimed her region is the target of a campaign by the central government to damage it across all areas, aiming to perpetuate its hold on power.
The Madrid president censured what she called the preemptive "sentencing" of Judge Juan Carlos Peinado by Félix Bolaños, the Minister of the Presidency, Justice, and Parliamentary Relations, in the case involving Gómez. Ayuso stated she had never seen "such a determined and calculated effort by state powers against a judge himself," adding that in a liberal democracy with separation of powers, this should not occur. She accused Sánchez of seeking to "gag the judiciary" and suggested the government will not stop until those close to him are "amnestied."
Ayuso's call for protecting judges and prosecutors from "orchestrated campaigns" comes just days after her chief of staff, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, attacked the magistrate overseeing her partner's case. Rodríguez implied the judge acted due to Sánchez's influence, citing her brother's promotion by Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska. This contrast highlights the political tensions surrounding judicial independence in Spain, with Ayuso framing the central government's actions as an attempt to undermine the rule of law while facing legal scrutiny herself.
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