Spain’s attorney general, Álvaro García Ortiz, has been barred from the post for two years after the supreme court found him guilty of revealing confidential information in a highly contentious and unprecedented case.
The court found that García Ortiz had revealed personal details related to the tax status of Alberto González Amador, an entrepreneur and partner of a high-profile, right-wing politician.
As well as the ban, the tribunal gave him a fine of €7,200 and he must also pay González Amador €10,000 in compensation.
The ruling comes as a blow for the beleaguered socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, who had defended García Ortiz, a government appointee, from the accusations.
RM Block
“The attorney general is the main state official charged with defending legality and he has broken it, according to the Supreme Court,” said Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the conservative People’s Party (PP), which called for Sánchez to resign.
José María Figaredo, of the far-right Vox party, said that “if the government had any shame at all it would call [elections] today.”
The intrigue-filled case originated in March 2024, when the attorney general published a statement saying that González Amador’s legal representation had requested a plea agreement after he had been found to have defrauded the tax office of approximately €350,000.
The communiqué came shortly after press reports had mistakenly stated that the attorney general had offered the deal.
The erroneous reports were sourced by a senior adviser to Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the conservative president of the Madrid region who is an outspoken critic of the government and the partner of González Amador.
The legal case against the attorney general claimed that the press release was a violation of privacy and also that he had secretly leaked González Amador’s tax status to the media.
Many on the left saw the trial, in which there was no direct evidence showing the attorney general to be the source of the leak, as part of a political offensive against the government using right-wing judges.
Sánchez’s brother is due to go on trial for influence peddling and his wife is being investigated for her business affairs.
Patxi López, spokesman for the Socialist Party, was among those who expressed their fury at the ruling.
“Having seen what we have seen, knowing what we know, understanding what we do about the whole process [of this case], for me it’s an absolute disgrace,” he said.
On the 50th anniversary of the death of the dictator Francisco Franco, others drew a parallel with his repressive regime. Alberto Ibañez, of the left-wing Compromís party, said the conviction shows that “Franco lives”.
Justice minister Félix Bolaños said: “We have the obligation to accept the sentence although we don’t like it” and he insisted on García Ortiz’s innocence.
