Justice also imposed an 18-year disqualification on former socialist leader Miguel Ángel Gallardo for the irregular creation and awarding of public positions
Judge José Antonio Patrocinio sentenced David Sánchez, brother of Spanish socialist president Pedro Sánchez, to nine years of special disqualification for public employment or office and for the exercise of the right to vote.
The court found him responsible, as a necessary collaborator, for a crime of administrative prevarication in the context of a case involving irregular hiring.
The judicial ruling focuses on the conditions under which the position held by Sánchez was created and awarded within a provincial administration.
Pedro Sánchez and David Sánchez
According to the ruling, this position was subject to labor and remuneration conditions “typical of senior management personnel” and was designed in a “spurious and devoid of real content” manner. The court concluded that the creation of the position responded to private interests and that its awarding violated the principles of merit, capacity, and publicity required in the public sphere.
Former socialist leader convicted
In the same process, the former general secretary of the PSOE of Extremadura and former president of the Badajoz Provincial Council, Miguel Ángel Gallardo, was also convicted. In his case, the Justice found him guilty as the author of two crimes of administrative prevarication, imposing two disqualification penalties that total 18 years for holding public office and the right to passive suffrage.
The ruling also details Sánchez's performance after his appointment, noting that he barely attended his office and that he disengaged from the coordination functions of the conservatories, a task for which he had been hired.
Pedro Sánchez and David Sánchez
Instead, he focused his activity on the Young Opera program, described as a personal project that absorbed most of his time and the public resources allocated.
The court also emphasized that the position was modified and renamed as “Head of the Office of Performing Arts” in order to formally adapt the functions to a work reality that it described as “tailor-made” for the interested party. This modification included the elimination of a prior legal incompatibility and did not incorporate a concrete definition of new responsibilities.
Regarding the administrative structure, the ruling states that in 2023, a procedure was reactivated to create another position that it describes as “unnecessary and devoid of content.” This position was awarded in a service commission to Luis María Carrero Pérez, a friend and collaborator of Sánchez, who joined his work environment with poorly defined functions and sharing an office.
Thus, the judicial ruling establishes criminal responsibilities regarding the creation and management of positions within the Badajoz Provincial Council, in a new case that adds to the numerous judicial convictions surrounding Pedro Sánchez.
