Judge Juan Carlos Peinado, who has been investigating Begoña Gómez for over a year, has conceded that he erred in a recent ruling regarding the investigation into the government rescue of Air Europa.

Peinado took four days to correct a decision he issued on a Monday, in which he stated that he maintained a request to the IGAE (Intervención General de la Administración del Estado) for a report concerning Globalia, the parent company of Air Europa, which was rescued by the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The judge acknowledged that he mistakenly referred to 'Globalia' when he should have specified 'Innova Next', a company linked to the accused businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés. Following this admission, Peinado instructed the Guardia Civil to refrain from preparing another report on Air Europa's rescue that he had previously requested.

This decision follows three admonitions from the Provincial Court of Madrid, which indicated that he should halt this line of inquiry.

As reported, the judge has been entangled in his investigations into Globalia.

After receiving a third setback from the Provincial Court, Peinado issued a new ruling the following Monday stating that he would maintain the request for an expert report from the IGAE on Globalia.

He maintained that the provincial tribunal had authorized the IGAE to conduct an analysis of Globalia and referenced a prior order from June 24, 2024, in which he had also requested information from SEPI regarding Air Europa’s rescue.

However, that June ruling specifically asked for a report on Innova Next, not Globalia.

The situation escalated when media outlets publicized the contents of Peinado's ruling, leading sources close to the judge to suggest that he had erred, implying that the 'spirit' of that document was to follow the directives set by the Madrid Court—to exclude the investigation concerning Air Europa and Globalia and focus solely on Innova Next, which is permitted by the provincial tribunal.

Legal sources indicated that Peinado remained insistent on not materially correcting the error up until Wednesday, but ultimately rectified his ruling on Friday.

The Provincial Court has previously made it clear on three occasions that there are no grounds to investigate Begoña Gómez's connection to the rescue of Air Europa.

The court explicitly stated, 'These facts are excluded from this proceeding,' most recently reiterating this on May 13. Moreover, the court instructed that if Peinado perceived any indications of criminality related to this matter, he should file a testimony to have that aspect referred to a distribution among all instruction courts in Madrid, in accordance with the law.

This latest admonishment followed Peinado's insistence on pursuing an investigation into Air Europa, despite previous warnings from the court.

The tribunal initially halted this investigation in May of the previous year, labeling the suspicions as mere 'conjectures,' and reiterated this stance in October 2024. Despite these warnings, the judge continued to press forward, even dismissing several appeals filed by the prosecution and the defense to halt his investigation.

Peinado had sought to justify his inquiry by referencing various media reports concerning the rescue of Air Europa, stemming from a Guardia Civil report related to the Ábalos case, which is part of ongoing investigations initiated by the Supreme Court.

In a document full of criticism directed at the prosecution, the judge emphasized he was not arbitrarily seeking potential criminal acts and accused the public ministry of employing a 'ostrich strategy,' referring to a willful ignorance of objective reality, and asserting that it seemed unwilling to recognize the world as it is perceived by all Spaniards.