The Conflict of Interest Office has filed the PP complaint against the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, for alleged violation of the duty to abstain in the sessions of the Council of Ministers on November 3, 2020 and March 16, 2021 in relation to the aid received by the airline company Air Europa which, according to the main opposition party, had professional and labor ties with the wife of the head of the Executive, Begoña Gómez.
In a resolution from the Office of Conflicts of Interest, which depends on the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function, it is stated that to determine if there were reasons for the president’s abstention, the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Government was requested to inform if Gómez had interests in the affected entities (Air Europa and Globalia) and that the response was that the spouse of the President of the Government “does not have and has not had any employment or professional relationship that implies the exercise of management, advisory or administrative functions in said entities. “.
For this reason, the Office understands that “the case provided for in the norm does not exist that allows it to be considered that the President of the Government may have incurred a cause of abstention, which requires the initiation of an investigation procedure in order to determine responsibilities” for the decisions taken in those meetings of the Council of Ministers.
The PP stated in its complaint that Sánchez could have committed a serious infraction of the law of high office by not abstaining from a decision that would affect the interests of a family member and recalled that in that case the regulations contemplate as a sanction the impossibility of occupying a high position. position for a period of between 5 and 10 years.
Among other issues, the PP demanded that the Tax Agency, Social Security and the employment service provide information such as tax returns, social contribution regime, employment contracts or remuneration to determine the nature of the legal relationship between Begoña Gómez and Globalia, the parent company of Air Euopa.
Specifically, the PP wanted to know the professional relationship that linked Gómez with the Instituto de Empresa because the president’s wife directed the IE Africa Center between August 2018 and June 2022, a non-profit academic organization that, in the opinion of the PP, “it seems” that it only had financing from Globalia.
Regarding these requests, the office rejects them considering that “they are requests that do not correspond to its powers” since Begoña Gómez “has not been and is not a senior official or employee of the General Administration of the State.”