Begoña Gómez will hand over the passport to Peinado this afternoon: the meeting takes place on the same day as Sánchez's appearance

The wife of the Prime Minister, Begoña Gómez, is summoned this Wednesday at 6:00 PM to the court of magistrate Juan Carlos Peinado, as part of the precautionary measures dictated after the opening of oral proceedings against her. The summons occurs on the same day that Pedro Sánchez faces in the Congress of Deputies, one of his most complicated appearances where he has spoken about the judicial cases affecting his Government. 

In this context, it will be the fifth time that Begoña Gómez attends the Plaza de Castilla courts. The judicial order comes after Judge Peinado dictated last Saturday the opening of oral proceedings with a popular jury against Gómez, her advisor Cristina Álvarez and businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés, within the case investigating alleged crimes of influence peddling, private corruption, misappropriation and embezzlement of public funds.

Gómez's defense has appealed this Tuesday before the Provincial Court of Madrid the three precautionary measures imposed, considering that there is no risk of flight and that they are disproportionate.

Today's appointment coincides with Pedro Sánchez's appearance this same Wednesday in the Congress of Deputies, amidst a day of high political and judicial tension for the Government.

Cristina Álvarez also appeals, although she already handed in her passport

Cristina Álvarez, assistant to Begoña Gómez in Moncloa, has already handed in her passport at the court, but has decided to appeal the precautionary measures imposed by the controversial judge Juan Carlos Peinado. Her defense has filed a complaint appeal before the Provincial Court of Madrid to request the revocation of the withdrawal of the document, the prohibition from leaving Spain and the obligation to appear every fifteen days in court.

The brief from lawyer José María de Pablo argues that there is no risk of flight and criticizes that the judge has applied to Álvarez a reasoning practically identical to that used with the wife of the Prime Minister. The defense emphasizes that Cristina Álvarez has professional, personal, family and social roots, that she has worked as temporary staff for the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Government for more than eight years and that there is no international link that could facilitate a hypothetical departure from the country.

The appeal also criticizes Peinado's reference to Begoña Gómez's police escort as a possible element to facilitate an escape. In Álvarez's case, the defense highlights an obvious difference: she is not the president's spouse, she does not have an escort or police officers who could assist her in that scenario. For this reason, it considers that the order introduces "purely speculative considerations" and even describes this allusion as "serious, impertinent, and inconsiderate".