Overview

• In an October 2 order, Judge Juan Carlos Peinado deemed Pedro Sánchez’s family tie to Begoña Gómez “fundamental” to assessing possible influence peddling and extended jury procedure to the main case.
• Gómez faces allegations in the principal piece of influence peddling, private-sector corruption, misappropriation and professional usurpation, with a related malfeasance piece already shifted to jury trial.
• The judge’s jury-track decision also encompasses businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés and aide Cristina Álvarez, whom he identifies as co-investigated in the connected offenses.
• On October 3, the Instituto de Empresa told the court it found no emails to or from Álvarez for UCO analysis, in contrast to UCM exchanges previously gathered that underpin the malfeasance line.
• The government escalated its pushback, with minister Félix Bolaños criticizing the instruction and pointing to pending appeals, as media highlighted copied passages in the judge’s reasoning; in parallel, UCO reports flagged over €95,000 in unexplained cash linked to José Luis Ábalos and the Supreme Court kept Santos Cerdán in custody citing strong indicia.