The PP responds with sarcasm to Begoña Gómez's complaint and challenges the PSOE over the Leire Díez case

The complaint by Begoña Gómez for the use of her image and voice in a video generated with artificial intelligence is filed, according to the public announcement by Pedro Sánchez, but without a known judicial decision on its acceptance. As of October 28, 2026, the information consulted does not report the opening of proceedings, summons of suspects, or dismissal of the case. Therefore, a judicial investigation against the PP cannot be considered initiated solely based on the announcement of the complaint.

What is confirmed

Pedro Sánchez announced this Wednesday, during an interview on the podcast Keep It Cutre, that his wife had formally filed a complaint for image impersonation. The information from Demócrata about the announcement explicitly records this filing. It is the concrete advance publicly known: the action is no longer described only as a possibility that those affected were studying.

The subject is a video disseminated by the Partido Popular during the pre-election campaign that recreates Gómez's appearance and voice through artificial intelligence and attributes fictitious statements about the university chair she co-directed at the Complutense University of Madrid. According to published information, she maintains that she did not utter those phrases, did not participate in the creation of the montage, and did not authorize the use of her image or voice.

What is not yet known

The available news focuses on the filing and its background. They do not include a subsequent resolution that places the matter in a more advanced judicial phase. Specifically:

• Acceptance for processing: no public resolution agreeing to it is recorded.
• Opening of proceedings: no judicial decision to investigate the facts has been communicated.
• Investigated persons or summons: no such actions linked to this complaint are recorded.
• Dismissal: no resolution closing the matter has been published either.

This absence of public updates does not mean the complaint has been rejected, nor does it allow affirming that a court has validated its basis. The verifiable status remains complaint filed, without a publicly known judicial resolution. This is also evident from the information from EFE and El Independiente.

Two important distinctions

The first is that this personal complaint should not be confused with the actions the PSOE had announced it was studying regarding the dissemination of the videos. According to Demócrata's information, that study included possible judicial avenues or actions before authorities related to data protection and artificial intelligence oversight. Gómez's complaint constitutes a distinct initiative: the announcement does not prove that all those other avenues have been activated.

The second is that it is also not the procedure followed before Judge Juan Carlos Peinado, nor other litigations related to Gómez. The decisions made in those matters do not determine the status of this complaint regarding the video.

In short, the news is the filing announced on October 28, not a judicial acceptance. The sources consulted do not yet offer a schedule of actions or a resolution on the merits. Therefore, it would be premature to speak of trial, proven responsibility of the PP, or a dismissed complaint.

Under Spanish law, the Prime Minister does not have special powers or legal authority to “protect the image” of his family members beyond what is already recognized by the common legislation applicable to any citizen. What exists is a combination of fundamental rights, data protection rules, and political and organizational capacity, but not a specific “presidential authority” over the image of his family environment.

1. General framework: fundamental rights applicable to any family member

The Prime Minister's family members, like any other person, are protected by:

• Right to honor, privacy, and own image, recognized in Article 18 of the Constitution and developed by Organic Law 1/1982. It allows reacting against illegitimate intrusions (publications, photographs, defamatory insinuations, etc.).
• Personal data protection, according to Spanish regulations and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): limited processing, specific purpose, right to rectification or deletion, etc.
• Enhanced protection of minors: if the family members are children or other minors, there is a stricter standard against unjustified public exposure of their image or data, especially in media and social networks.

These legal tools are available to any citizen. The Prime Minister, as such, does not enact or apply these rules: they are applied by the Judiciary and, regarding data, by data protection authorities and other competent administrative bodies.

2. What the Prime Minister can do as a private individual

As a natural person and as a parent, spouse, or other relative, the Prime Minister can exercise the same powers as any citizen:

• Initiate civil actions for unlawful interference with the honor, privacy, or own image of his family members (for example, suing a media outlet).
• Request corrections or retractions when inaccurate or harmful information about his family members is disseminated, under the legislation on the right of rectification.
• Report possible crimes (insults, slander, harassment, threats, disclosure of secrets…), so that the Public Prosecutor's Office or criminal courts act.

In all these cases, the Prime Minister acts like any citizen before the courts, without a privileged procedural channel for protecting the image of his family environment.

3. Institutional scope: what the Government can do

Although there is no special competence, the Prime Minister does have certain political and administrative instruments that indirectly influence the protection of the image of his family members:

• Guidance on institutional communication: through the Moncloa Communication Department, he can:
  • Set criteria on the presence or absence of the family in official acts and institutional graphic material.
  • Request prudence or respect from the media in handling images of minors or family members unrelated to public life.
• Security measures (through the Ministry of the Interior and security services):
  • Restrict access, movements, or presence of cameras in especially sensitive environments (homes, schools of minors, etc.).
  • Intervene against situations of harassment, stalking, or physical risk that may also involve image exposure.
• Exemplarity and internal guidelines:
  • Decide to what extent the family is exposed in public acts or official networks.
  • Give instructions to his environment not to instrumentalize the image of his family members in political communication.

These actions do not constitute “censorship” nor empower the Prime Minister to prevent by himself a media outlet from publishing information or images: only courts can order restrictive measures or condemnations for rights violations.

4. Limits and checks

The Prime Minister's powers—as head of the Executive Branch—are subject to separation of powers and judicial control:

• He cannot order a media outlet to remove content, except by resorting to the competent judicial route.
• He cannot legitimately use security forces to restrict freedom of information, beyond what the law allows for reasons of public order or security.
• Any security or communication measure that indirectly affects press freedom must respect the balance between the right to information and the rights to privacy and own image.

5. Summary

In summary, the Spanish Prime Minister does not have a specific and differentiated legal competence to protect the image of his family members. He shares with them and the rest of citizens the same fundamental rights and protection avenues, and can only resort to general legal instruments (civil and criminal actions, data protection) and his capacity to organize institutional communication and security. Any effective limitation of content or images ultimately corresponds to judicial bodies and competent independent authorities, not to a discretionary power of the Prime Minister.

Before being investigated, Leire Díez developed a trajectory linked to the PSOE, Cantabrian municipal politics, and communication in public companies. She was not a frontline national leader: her path went through the Vega de Pas City Council, communication work for Cantabrian socialists, and responsibilities at ENUSA and Correos. It is important to distinguish those accredited positions from the relationships and influences later attributed to her.

Membership and early steps

Born in Portugalete in 1975 and trained in Journalism at the University of the Basque Country, Díez combined her professional activity in communication with socialist membership. According to the documentation the PSOE sent to the court, she joined on April 18, 2006 in the Portugalete branch and later moved to the Vega de Pas branch in Cantabria. This is recorded by Demócrata.

Journalistic reconstructions place her as secretary general of the Vega de Pas socialist branch since 2007 and document that responsibility in 2009. However, there is a relevant discrepancy: in the cited judicial documentation, the PSOE stated that it was not recorded that she had held organic positions. Therefore, that local responsibility should be attributed to the published profiles, without presenting it as an indisputable fact.

The municipal stage in Vega de Pas

Her main experience as an elected representative began in the 2011 municipal elections, when she accessed the Vega de Pas City Council as a socialist councilor. She became deputy mayor, within a municipal agreement between PSOE and PP that left the mayoralty in the hands of the popular Juan Carlos García. During that stage, she was also vice president of the Mancomunidad de los Valles Pasiegos, according to published biographical profiles.

The end dates do not fully coincide: several reports place her departure from municipal activity in 2014, while the PSOE informed the court that she was a councilor between 2011 and 2015. The essential point is that her institutional elective trajectory was concentrated in that local scope, not in a parliamentary seat or ministry.

Communication and activity within the PSOE

Later she worked in communication for the Cantabrian Socialist Parliamentary Group, between 2015 and 2017 according to journalistic reconstructions. It is documented that she received 15,612.04 euros gross for communication work during 2017; the PSOE acknowledged those payments, although it denied that she had maintained an employment relationship with the party, according to the Demócrata information cited above.

The review by El Diario Montañés also records collaborations in Patxi López's campaigns and in Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba's team in 2012. It places her supporting Eduardo Madina in the 2014 primaries and, later, backing Pedro Sánchez's return to the general secretariat in 2017.

From ENUSA to Correos

In 2018 she joined ENUSA, where she performed communication functions until 2021. Then she moved to Correos, with incorporation dated late 2021, and held responsibilities in Philately and Institutional Relations until 2024. Demócrata records both stages. These were professional or managerial positions in public companies, not elected offices.

In summary, her path before the investigations was that of a member with municipal experience and specialization in institutional communication. Her resignation from the PSOE was dated by the party on June 4, 2025, when the controversy had already emerged; therefore, it belongs to the outcome of that trajectory, not to its prior stage.