The Madrid investigating judge Juan Carlos Peinado has asked the lawyer for Begoña Gómez, Jaime Campaner, to appoint a substitute for the audiencia preliminar scheduled for the evening of 8 September. Campaner had said that he was due to appear in court in Barcelona at the same time. Peinado says the matter is urgent because he is on holiday from 9 to 18 September and is due to retire on 27 September 2026. The judge aims to set the apertura de juicio oral in motion before he retires.
According to the judge’s order, no further evidence needs to be dealt with at the preliminary hearing. It would therefore be reasonable for the defence to have a colleague attend the hearing. The defence, in turn, requested that it be rescheduled for the week of 21 to 25 September, citing the lead lawyer’s diary clash. Whether the hearing goes ahead as planned depends on how the proceedings unfold on 8 September.
The audiencia preliminar is a mandatory step in proceedings before a tribunal del jurado before the main trial can potentially be opened. According to judicial sources, Peinado wants to sign the order opening the main trial before his retirement. If the preliminary hearing does not go ahead, the court would have to reschedule it through a substitute, which could delay the timetable.
The case concerning Begoña Gómez, the wife of Spain’s prime minister, is being pursued by the public prosecutor and several private complainants. The allegations include improper influence; the defence denies them and is seeking acquittal and the dismissal of proceedings. Some aspects of the case to date have already been reviewed by the Audiencia Provincial de Madrid . In its latest submissions, the defence also cites publicly documented examples of the role of an assistant to support its account of how its organisation operates.
The established facts are the judge’s orders and dated notices: the audiencia preliminar was scheduled for 8 September 2026, the judge will be away from 9 to 18 September, and he is due to retire on 27 September 2026. It remains unclear whether Peinado will issue the order for the apertura de juicio oral before his retirement. This depends on how the preliminary hearing proceeds and on any last-minute appeals.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).