Spain's PM remains silent in wife's graft probe

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez refused to answer questions on Tuesday from a judge investigating alleged influence-peddling by his wife, and countered with a lawsuit against the magistrate accusing him of illegalities.

Judge Juan Carlos Peinado went to Sanchez's official residence to quiz the Socialist prime minister as a witness but he made use of his legal right to not testify against his wife, government spokeswoman Pilar Alegria told reporters.

She dismissed the case as a "montage that has a clear objective, which is to erode the image of the prime minister."

"The strategy is to give legal cover to what is a political cause," she added.

Gomez also invoked her right to remain silent under questioning by the judge earlier this month.

Sanchez has denied any wrongdoing by his wife and has repeatedly argued the allegations are part of a right-wing smear campaign against his left-wing government.

The case has put pressure on Sanchez's minority coalition government, with the main opposition Popular Party (PP) calling on Sanchez to resign.

The only time a sitting Spanish prime minister has testified in a judicial case was in 2017, when Mariano Rajoy was summoned in a graft case that led to the conviction of several members of his party, the PP.

Gomez is being investigated for alleged influence-peddling and corruption following a complaint filed by an anti-graft NGO "Manos Limpias" -- Spanish for "Clean Hands" -- which has links to the far right.

- 'Defend the dignity' -

Sanchez asked to testify in writing, as allowed under Spanish law for top government officials, but the courts rejected the request, arguing he would be questioned in his role as Gomez's spouse.

Spain's state legal services on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Peinado, arguing he and others may have committed "criminal acts" in his summons by not allowing Sanchez to testify in writing.

"You cannot separate one person into two and claim that you are going to question him as his spouse, when what determines the subject of the investigation...is the fact that the husband of the person under investigation is the head of government," the lawsuit stated.

Alegria said the aim of the lawsuit is to "defend the dignity" of the post of prime minister and ensure "this never happens again".

Gomez, a veteran fundraiser, is alleged to have used her husband's position as leverage within her professional circles, notably with businessman Juan Carlos Barrabes, who was seeking public funding.

In his testimony, Barrabes -- who teaches part of a master's course at Madrid's Complutense University that is run by Gomez -- acknowledged meeting her several times at the premier's official residence.

Sanchez was present at two of the meetings, he said.

Barrabes -- who obtained two letters of recommendation from Gomez before pitching for a public tender worth several million euros (dollars) -- said they only talked about matters of innovation, judicial sources said.

- Political bias? -

Manos Limpias has said its allegations against Gomez were entirely based on media reports, which could turn out to be false.

Spanish prosecutors have failed to get the case dismissed.

Sanchez's supporters have accused Peinado, whose daughter is a PP city councillor, of political bias.

The judge has taken controversial decisions in the past seen as favouring the right.

In 2015 he accepted another Manos Limpias complaint over tweets made by two left-wing Madrid city councillors deemed offensive.

When the probe was opened in April, Sanchez took five days off to consider his future but ultimately stayed as prime minister.

Sanchez, who has been in office since 2018, has struggled to pass legislation since he returned to power last year as head of a fragile coalition that relies on a patchwork of smaller parties to approve bills.

Spanish lawmakers last week rejected the government's fiscal targets, a mandatory step before the government can table a budget.