On Monday, November 3, 2025, Spain witnessed a legal spectacle never before seen in its modern history: the nation’s top prosecutor, Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz, took the stand as a defendant in a criminal trial. The allegations—that García Ortiz leaked confidential information about a politically sensitive case—have sent shockwaves through Spain’s political establishment and cast a long shadow over Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s already embattled government. The trial, scheduled to conclude by November 13, is unfolding in the Supreme Court and stands at the intersection of law, politics, and public trust.
According to AFP and the Associated Press, García Ortiz is accused of leaking an email to journalists from a lawyer representing Alberto González Amador, a businessman under investigation for alleged tax fraud. González Amador, notably, is the partner of Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the influential leader of Madrid’s conservative regional government and a central figure in Spain’s opposition Popular Party. The email in question reportedly concerned plea negotiations between González Amador and the public prosecutor’s office, with the businessman allegedly seeking to avoid trial and jail time by admitting to tax offenses. The stakes are high: González Amador is demanding four years in jail for García Ortiz and 300,000 euros in compensation for "moral damage caused." If convicted, García Ortiz faces several years in prison and a ban from practicing law.
García Ortiz, who was appointed attorney general in 2022 by Sánchez’s Socialist government, has steadfastly denied the charges. As AFP reported, when asked directly by the presiding judge whether he considered himself guilty, García Ortiz answered simply: “No.” His defense team, led by Consuelo Castro, has characterized the proceedings as "an unjust process overall," arguing that the investigation began with "a preconceived notion that the defendant was guilty." Prosecutors themselves have requested an acquittal, while Prime Minister Sánchez has publicly declared his belief in García Ortiz’s innocence on multiple occasions.
The case is more than a personal ordeal for García Ortiz; it has become a flashpoint in Spain’s ongoing political tensions. The trial’s backdrop is a fierce rivalry between the left-wing national government in Madrid, led by Sánchez, and the conservative regional administration of Díaz Ayuso. The Popular Party, Spain’s main conservative force, has accused García Ortiz of orchestrating the leak to damage Ayuso politically—a charge that García Ortiz’s legal team strongly denies. They contend that Ayuso’s government has pursued a strategy of "building and spreading an alternative narrative," framing González Amador’s legal troubles as political persecution to shield the regional leader from fallout.
As AP and AFP note, the trial is drawing extraordinary attention not only for its unprecedented nature but also for its cast of witnesses and the broader political climate. Over its ten-day run, the court will hear from 41 witnesses, including 12 journalists. González Amador is set to testify on Tuesday, November 4, while García Ortiz will take the stand on November 12. The legal proceedings themselves have become a stage for Spain’s escalating political drama, with both sides trading accusations of corruption, partisanship, and institutional decay.
The controversy surrounding García Ortiz is hardly an isolated incident. As AP and AFP report, separate corruption investigations are swirling around two former high-ranking officials in Sánchez’s Socialist Party, as well as the prime minister’s own wife and brother. While Sánchez himself has not been named as a suspect in any of these cases, the cumulative effect has been to threaten the stability of his minority government, which has governed Spain since 2018. The Popular Party has seized on the moment, with its national leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo declaring that the García Ortiz affair alone "would be enough to bring down a government in any decent democracy." He added, “But for Sánchez, it’s just another step in the moral decay of our country.”
Prime Minister Sánchez, for his part, has pushed back forcefully against what he describes as politically motivated attacks. He has repeatedly expressed confidence in García Ortiz’s innocence and dismissed the cases against his wife and brother as the product of ideological or political bias within segments of the judiciary. Addressing a Senate committee last week, Sánchez insisted that Socialist party funding is "absolutely clean" and emphasized his administration’s commitment to transparency. In July, the government unveiled a suite of anti-corruption measures aimed at restoring public faith in Spanish politics—a move that some critics see as too little, too late.
At the heart of the García Ortiz case lies a broader debate about the politicization of Spain’s judiciary and the boundaries between legal accountability and political vendetta. The Popular Party and its allies argue that the left-wing government is mired in corruption and is using state institutions to shield itself from scrutiny. They have called for Sánchez’s resignation and a snap general election, hoping to capitalize on the government’s perceived vulnerabilities. On the other side, Sánchez and his supporters contend that conservative forces are weaponizing the courts to undermine a democratically elected administration and distract from scandals within their own ranks.
The trial has also become a litmus test for Spain’s judicial system. Never before has a serving attorney general faced criminal prosecution, and the outcome will likely reverberate far beyond García Ortiz’s personal fate. As AP notes, the proceedings are being closely watched by legal scholars, politicians, and ordinary citizens alike, all keen to see whether the rule of law can withstand the pressures of partisan conflict.
Meanwhile, García Ortiz remains in his post, buoyed by the public support of the prime minister and the official request for acquittal from prosecutors. The government has repeatedly stated its full confidence in his ability to continue serving as attorney general, at least until the court reaches its verdict. For now, the nation waits as the drama plays out in the Supreme Court, with the careers of top officials—and perhaps the future of Sánchez’s government—hanging in the balance.
As Spain’s political and legal worlds collide in this extraordinary case, the country finds itself at a crossroads, grappling with questions of justice, transparency, and the true meaning of accountability in a modern democracy.
