Spanish court summons PM Sanchez’s wife over corruption allegations

A Madrid court has summoned Begona Gomez, wife of the Spanish prime minister, to appear before a judge on July 5 over allegations of corruption and influence peddling that spurred premier Pedro Sanchez to consider resigning in April.
The request was made as part of a preliminary inquiry into whether she had used her position to influence business dealings, the investigations court said on Tuesday.
Sanchez said late in April he would remain in office, after a five-day hiatus from duty to ponder resigning amid the court investigation of his wife, which he said was baseless and orchestrated by right-wing political opponents.
Madrid’s prosecuting authority appealed to have the case thrown out for lack of evidence, but was overruled by the investigating judge.
The opposition has, on various occasions, demanded the resignation of Sanchez, who leads Spain’s minority leftist coalition government.