On 14 July 2026, the Audiencia Provincial de Badajoz sentenced David Sánchez, the brother of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, to nine years of special disqualification from public employment or office and from standing for elected office. The court found him criminally responsible as a necessary cooperator in administrative prevarication tied to his recruitment by the Diputación de Badajoz. The sentence carries no prison term and is not final while the appeal process continues.
The case concerns a position created in 2017, initially to coordinate activities at two conservatories and later linked to the provincial administration’s Office of Performing Arts. The court found that the post was designed with a specific candidate in mind. It also found insufficient institutional need for the role and little substantive work, and concluded that the position was later adapted to Sánchez’s circumstances. The case centered on the legality of the public hiring process, not a conventional financial crime.
The ruling distinguished administrative prevarication from influence-peddling. It found irregularities in the recruitment process and concluded that the position was created for Sánchez, but did not find that Pedro Sánchez or his brother put specific pressure on the officials responsible. The court also found no evidence that David Sánchez used influence stemming from his family relationship with the prime minister. Pedro Sánchez defended his brother, saying he was being convicted “because he is the brother of the prime minister.”
Known professionally as David Azagra, Sánchez is a musician and assistant conductor whose career included work in St. Petersburg. He moved to Badajoz before Pedro Sánchez became prime minister, a point his defenders cite to argue that the move was not prompted by his brother’s later political position. Even so, the controversy has focused on whether the provincial post’s design and recruitment were fair and properly justified.
The nine-year disqualification bars Sánchez from public employment or office and from standing for elected office during the applicable period, but does not prevent him from working in the private sector. He had already left the provincial position. Private prosecutors had called for harsher penalties, but the court imposed no prison term.
David Sánchez has appealed, and the Fiscalía has also sought his acquittal, arguing that the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction. The next decisive stage will be before the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Extremadura, which may uphold the ruling or change it. Until that review is complete, the conviction remains subject to appeal and is not definitive.
