A Madrid judge has closed the case against Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, chief of staff to Isabel Díaz Ayuso, over the alleged disclosure of two El País journalists’ identities. Judge Raquel Robles ended the investigation without hearing testimony from the police officers suspected of giving Rodríguez the journalists’ personal data. The PSOE has appealed, arguing that the judicial process was incomplete and biased in favor of the accused.
The dispute centers on whether the journalists’ information came from police action or a private citizen. Rodríguez and Alberto González Amador, Ayuso’s partner, told the court that a neighbor photographed the journalists and passed the image to González Amador, who then forwarded it to Rodríguez. Both admitted deleting the WhatsApp* (принадлежит Metа, которая признана экстремистской организацией и запрещена в РФ) conversation containing the image. The PSOE calls that suspicious, particularly given their past criticism of similar behavior by public officials.
The PSOE’s legal filing notes that neither the police officers involved nor the supposed neighbor who took the photo was questioned before the case closed. The party says that if the data came from police identification, disclosing it could constitute a criminal offense. The judge initially summoned the officers as witnesses, then suspended their appearance while considering whether to treat them as suspects. She closed the case before resolving that question, leaving basic issues unanswered.
The PSOE says the documentation González Amador provided after his testimony was inconsistent and did not clarify the timeline or the participants in the alleged conversations. The party also notes that the journalists involved and a colleague confirmed police had identified them on the street, and that a police report acknowledging this was included in the case file. The PSOE argues that closing the investigation prematurely favored the defense and left impressive lines of inquiry unexplored.
The journalist-data proceedings are separate from another investigation into González Amador over alleged business-related offenses and financial relationships involving companies linked to Quirón Salud. In that separate case, on 20 October 2026, Section Three of the Audiencia Provincial de Madrid granted a prosecution appeal allowing the Guardia Civil’s Central Operative Unit (UCO) to obtain tax and Social Security information covering 2014 onward, alongside banking records already available to investigators. The ruling followed an appeal by the Madrid Public Prosecutor’s Office, supported by the PSOE and Más Madrid in that case, and allows investigators to examine the records together. It does not determine the allegations against González Amador or affect the journalist-identity investigation.
The legal dispute comes amid heightened scrutiny of political figures and judicial processes in Spain. Similar tensions have surfaced in other high-profile cases, including the recent prosecution of two individuals over an attack on the PSOE headquarters in Cantabria. That case highlighted the risks of political violence and the challenges facing the justice system. For more on political cases in Spain, see this report on the Cantabria PSOE headquarters attack.
Spain’s legal structure treats unauthorized disclosure of personal data by public officials as a serious offense, especially when journalists are involved. The case against Rodríguez has drawn attention to judicial procedures in politically sensitive matters and to standards for preserving evidence. The Supreme Court has previously criticized the deletion of potentially relevant communications, stressing the importance of transparency and accountability. The appeal will be heard by the Provincial Court, and its outcome may set a precedent for such allegations, including the role of police and public officials’ responsibility to safeguard personal information.
