Phoenix 24
The judgment is appealable and carries no prison term.
Badajoz | July 2026
The Provincial Court of Badajoz has sentenced David Sánchez, brother of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, to nine years of disqualification from holding public employment or office for administrative prevarication. The ruling concerns his 2017 appointment to a musical management position within the Badajoz Provincial Council. The judgment is not final, and his defense has announced an appeal before the High Court of Justice of Extremadura.
The court imposed no prison sentence and acquitted David Sánchez of influence peddling. Judges concluded that the evidence supported the existence of an arbitrary administrative process, but did not prove the exchange of favors or direct influence required for the second offense. The legal consequences are therefore limited to disqualification unless a higher court modifies the ruling.
The 377-page judgment states that the Provincial Council created a position coordinating activities at its music conservatories specifically to favor Sánchez. According to the court, the role was later modified to accommodate his professional interests in opera and was provided with resources normally associated with senior management. The judges considered that the process violated the constitutional principles of merit and professional capacity governing access to public employment.
The court described the appointments as part of a coordinated plan involving political officials and public employees. It concluded that the formal procedures surrounding the positions gave an appearance of legality to decisions whose outcome had already been determined. The ruling characterizes that conduct as an arbitrary exercise of administrative power.
David Sánchez obtained the position in 2017, when his brother was secretary-general of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party but had not yet become prime minister. The case began in 2024 following a complaint filed by the organization Manos Limpias and later expanded through judicial investigation, police reports, documents and witness testimony.
The trial took place between May 28 and June 9, 2026. One of the most significant testimonies came from a Civil Guard officer who said the creation of the position had not originated within the Provincial Council’s cultural department, but had been promoted from senior levels of the institution. Another applicant testified that she had been warned before her interview that the position was intended for Pedro Sánchez’s brother.
The court also sentenced Miguel Ángel Gallardo, the former Socialist president of the Badajoz Provincial Council, to 18 years of disqualification for two offenses of administrative prevarication. Judges attributed to Gallardo a central role in promoting both David Sánchez’s position and another senior post created for Luis María Carrero, a friend and collaborator of Sánchez.
Other former officials and employees involved in the process also received disqualification penalties. The judgment considers that the appointments were not justified by genuine administrative needs and that the procedures created unequal conditions for other candidates. The court linked this type of conduct to the broader institutional risks of favoritism and political patronage.
The prosecution had requested the acquittal of all defendants, arguing that the evidence did not establish criminal conduct. Several popular accusations, including political parties and civil organizations, sought prison sentences and considerably longer periods of disqualification. The court rejected both extremes, finding prevarication but excluding imprisonment and influence peddling.
Administrative prevarication under Spanish law involves a public authority or official knowingly issuing an arbitrary decision in an administrative matter. It does not necessarily require personal enrichment, financial loss to the state or a direct exchange of favors. The central legal issue is whether public power was deliberately used through a decision incompatible with the law and ordinary administrative standards.
David Sánchez’s defense maintains that the position was created for legitimate cultural purposes and that he obtained it through a lawful competitive process. His lawyers are expected to challenge the court’s assessment of the evidence, the credibility attributed to certain witnesses and the conclusion that the administrative procedure had been predetermined.
Because the sentence can be appealed, the presumption of innocence continues to operate until the judgment becomes final. The High Court of Justice of Extremadura may confirm the decision, reduce or annul the penalties, or order other procedural measures. Further review before Spain’s Supreme Court could also become possible depending on the legal grounds raised.
The Spanish government responded by stating that it respects the judiciary but disagrees with the ruling. Government spokesperson Elma Saiz emphasized that prosecutors had requested acquittal and expressed confidence that higher courts would recognize David Sánchez’s innocence. Senior Socialist officials similarly described the judgment as legally contestable and politically exploited.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente argued that the proceedings were being used to weaken the government through the prime minister’s family. The Socialist Party gave its support to David Sánchez, Gallardo and the officials sentenced, while maintaining that institutional respect requires awaiting the outcome of the appeals process.
The conservative Popular Party presented the ruling as evidence of political favoritism inside Socialist-controlled institutions. Its parliamentary spokesperson demanded that Pedro Sánchez resign, dissolve parliament and call an early general election. The opposition also connected the decision with other judicial proceedings involving former Socialist officials and people close to the prime minister.
The judgment creates no direct criminal responsibility for Pedro Sánchez. The prime minister was not a defendant in the case, and the court did not convict him of influencing the appointment. The political impact arises from the family relationship and from the opposition’s effort to place the ruling within a wider narrative of institutional deterioration surrounding the government.
The case intensifies Spain’s confrontation over the boundary between judicial accountability and political warfare. Supporters of the ruling regard it as a defense of equal access to public employment, while the defendants and their allies question the strength of the evidence and the motives of some private accusers. Those competing interpretations will continue as the appeal moves through the courts.
For now, the legally decisive fact is narrower than the political debate surrounding it. David Sánchez has received a nine-year public-office disqualification for administrative prevarication, has been acquitted of influence peddling and faces no prison sentence. The judgment remains subject to review and cannot be treated as final until the available appeals have been resolved.
Contra la propaganda, memoria. / Against propaganda, memory.