Madrid court summons Begona Gomez, wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to appear before a judge on July 5 on charges of corruption and influence peddling, which prompted the prime minister to consider resigning in April, reports Reuters and News.bg.
The subpoena is part of a preliminary investigation into whether she used her position to influence business deals, the investigating court said on Tuesday.
Sanchez said in late April that he would stay in his post after five days of debating whether to resign over the judicial investigation into his wife, which he described as baseless and orchestrated by right-wing political opponents.
The prosecutor's office in Madrid appealed for the case to be dropped due to lack of evidence, but this was rejected by the investigating judge.
The opposition has repeatedly called for the resignation of Sanchez, who leads a minority left-wing coalition government in Spain.
The case was brought on a private complaint by the anti-corruption activist group Clean Hands, led by Miguel Bernad, a lawyer and politician who was a candidate for a far-right party in the European elections.
"Clean hands" claim that Begona Gómez used her influence as the Prime Minister's wife to secure sponsors for a master's program she ran.
Gomez has not made any public statements since the court opened the investigation in late April.
The case caused international consequences. Last month, Spain recalled its ambassador to Buenos Aires after Argentina's president, Javier Millay, called Gomez "corrupt" during a far-right rally in Madrid. Argentina retained its ambassador in Madrid.