The public prosecutor’s office in Madrid requests the closure of the corruption case against Prime Minister Sanchez’s wife. The authors of the complaint relied on press articles and cannot guarantee their veracity

Less than a day after a preliminary investigation into his wife prompted Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to announce he was considering resigning, prosecutors asked for the case to be dropped, Reuters writes.

Madrid’s public prosecutor’s office announced on Thursday that it had requested the dismissal of a corruption case against the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, which prompted him to announce that he was considering resigning.

Prosecutors said they were appealing Wednesday’s decision by a Madrid court to review a private complaint filed by anti-corruption activists against Begona Gomez for alleged influence peddling and business corruption.

The anti-corruption organization behind the complaint, Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), previously said it based its complaint on media reports and could not vouch for their veracity.

Manos Limpias accused Gomez of receiving favors from airline Air Europa and Spanish holding company Globalia during her tenure as director of an African research center at Madrid’s IE business school until 2022, according to to a document published by the Cadena Ser radio station on its website.

The head of the organization, Miguel Bernad, later said on Facebook that the group had only compiled and submitted the reports to a judge out of “civic duty” and denied that the action was politically motivated.

Sanchez, who last year won a new mandate for Spain’s Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), which he leads as the leader of a minority coalition government, sent an unexpected message to citizens on Wednesday announcing he was taking a break of five days from public duties and that he will announce his decision to stay or resign on April 29.

He accused “unprecedented slander and harassment from the right and far right”. In his letter, Sanchez strongly denied the allegations against his wife. Gomez has not addressed them publicly.

What’s next for Sanchez and Spain

Miguel Bernad, the head of Manos Limpias, who in the 80s ran for two European elections for the far-right National Front party, stated in his statement on Thursday that this process is not political, but “is based exclusively on journalistic reports” .

Manos Limpias decided to ask the court to launch an investigation into Gomez’s affairs after prosecutors failed to act on their own initiative, and the investigating judge will decide whether the media reports are true or not, he said.

The judge in charge of the case, Juan Carlos Peinado, said Wednesday that he would open a preliminary case to investigate whether Gomez engaged in influence peddling and business corruption in his private businesses.

The judge called two digital newspaper publishers to testify as witnesses in the inquiry, a judicial source told Reuters.

It’s unclear whether Gomez will be formally named as a suspect in the investigation, which is still in its early stages and is now awaiting a prosecutor’s call.

Senior Socialist Party officials rallied around Sanchez, describing the political climate as “toxic” and Manos Limpias’ complaint as false.

Deputy Prime Minister and Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero said she hoped he would announce next week that he would stay in office “because we need him”.

Political predictions after Sanchez’s move range from him staying in office to his resignation, which could bring a new prime minister or even early elections.

Sanchez could also face a confidence vote to consolidate his power.