The state’s new attorney general, Teresa Peramato, was greeted with what her predecessor did not: some respite from the political and judicial right. If when Álvaro García Ortiz took over from Dolores Delgado, in July 2022, he was greeted by a storm of suspensions from day one – even if, like Peramato, his career had been exclusively professional – this time the opposition’s tone has dropped considerably. The PP and the conservative Association of Prosecutors (AF) agreed to talk about “continuity”, but avoided directly criticizing the new head of the public prosecutor’s office. In the Government, the socialists once again settled in the most institutional position, while Sumar’s visible leader, the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, invited citizens, from the table of the Council of Ministers, to mobilize against the disqualification of García Ortiz.
The popular people on Tuesday poured all their dialectical fury into continuing to strike the previous attorney general’s fallen tree. García Ortiz left office on Monday, although his disqualification will not take effect until the Supreme Court publishes its ruling, the terms of which are not yet known. At a morning demonstration in Madrid, the general secretary of the PP, Miguel Tellado, once again branded the outgoing man – sentenced to a two-year ban for revealing personal data – as a “criminal”. The same word that the popular spokesperson of the Senate, Alicia García, later used during the government control session.
On Monday, after the resignation of the outgoing prosecutor, the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, had hinted that he would reject any candidate proposed by the Government, as he would always remain “in the shadow of Sankist degradation”. Such a statement seemed to anticipate another offensive as soon as the name of the new attorney general was made public, similar to what happened three years ago with García Ortiz, who, like Peramato, had been president of the Progressive Union of Prosecutors (UPF). But, after Feijóo’s threat, the People’s Party showed unexpected moderation in evaluating who will be the fourth person at the top of the Public Prosecutor’s Office since Sánchez’s arrival in the Government. At least for one day, the political climate in the capital seemed a little less charged than it had been after the news last Thursday of the Supreme Court ruling in the controversial case against García Ortiz for revealing the personal data of the Madrid president’s boyfriend.
Moreover, the first words of a member of the PP leadership dedicated surprising praise to Peramato. They came from his secretary for Equality, Jaime de los Santos, who, in statements to La Sexta, praised the “exemplary role” of the new attorney general in his various roles related to the fight against sexist violence. Tellado took the stage shortly after, with a very unusual word for him: “We will welcome this appointment with all caution.” Although, similarly to what Feijóo had said, he did not fail to warn: “The important thing is not who they nominate, but who they nominate.” That “who” is Pedro Sánchez, a head of government capable of “keeping a criminal in power”, underlined Tellado, already in his most famous line.
The tone rose a little more, although still much less stridently than usual in the first opposition party, with the subsequent appearance in Congress of Ester Muñoz. The parliamentary spokesperson spoke of “continuity” compared to Peramato’s two predecessors. And he also put emphasis on what should be “what is important”. In his case, knowing whether Peramato will comply with Sánchez’s orders to “act against a political rival.” The PP insists on the idea that García Ortiz came out to dispel the falsehoods surrounding Isabel Díaz Ayuso about her partner’s tax fraud following the instructions of the President of the Government, although this could not be proven in the trial. Muñoz went no further. Not even the popular spokesperson of the Senate made any allusions to Peramato, who instead insisted on attacks against the outgoing prosecutor in a clash with the first vice president, María Jesús Montero.
In the corporate context, the same caution was appreciated in the first assessments of the Order of Prosecutors. His spokeswoman, Cristina Dexeus, also spoke of continuity, while, in statements to EL PAÍS, she recognized Peramato’s “extraordinary” career, to which “there is nothing to object to”. Dexeus expressed the hope that the appointment will serve to “recover the institution’s image of neutrality”, reports Reyes Rincon. The Independent Professional Association of Minority Prosecutors (APIF), which led the private prosecution against García Ortiz with singular belligerence, limited itself to commenting that the profile of the new attorney general “is similar” to that of her predecessor. The UPF, of course, praised the professional merits of its colleague and underlined that she is “widely respected by the judiciary, the legal profession, legal practitioners and the tax career itself”.
The Government was quick to take advantage of this unexpected change in direction of the PP compared to what was foreshadowed by Feijóo’s words the day before. After the meeting of the Council of Ministers, the head of the Presidency and Justice, Félix Bolaños, considered the reaction of the people “irregular” and “confused”. “Feijóo spoke of ‘Sanchist degradation’. These kinds of outrageous expressions only force them to swallow the words they pronounce, they themselves poison coexistence.”
Since the sentence became known, Bolaños, as Minister of Justice, has stuck to a purely institutional discourse, without ceasing to express his disagreement with the sentence. On the socialist side, it was other members of the government, such as Óscar López, more in his role as leader of the Madrid PSOE than as minister of Digital Transformation, who directly criticized the Supreme Court. Bolaños insisted on Tuesday that those who disagree with the ruling do so without “damaging democratic institutions.”
Yolanda Díaz sat next to the Chief Justice in the press room of La Moncloa. And his way of approaching the issue – as all Sumar leaders generally did – was very different. The second vice president attacked the “anomalous” thing that the Supreme Court had made public a ruling without explaining its legal basis. And he forcefully invited citizens to mobilize against the actions of the judges: “The streets are not far-right in our country, nor have they ever been nor will they be now. And just as they are calling for mobilizations, we have the legitimate right to tell the Spanish people to come out and defend democracy.”
Sumar also praised the figure of the new attorney general, while the government’s parliamentary partners, critical or more critical of García Ortiz’s disqualification, avoided Peramato’s assessments. The general secretary of Podemos, Ione Belarra, argued that “beyond the concrete person who will hold the position, the question is whether or not the PSOE will fight against the judicial coup in Spain”. At the other extreme, the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, has not started the trial against the new prosecutor either. He remained with the usual outburst of very thick words about Sánchez and the demand that he go away.
The General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) will publish its non-binding report on Peramato on Wednesday. According to the law, we should limit ourselves to certifying the suitability of the candidate for the position if she demonstrates that she is a jurist of recognized prestige with at least 15 years of professional experience. In 2023, however, the conservative majority that then controlled an expired CGPJ turned against García Ortiz’s nomination. He relied on the fact that, when he was an environmental prosecutor in Galicia, he participated in a round table on forest fires organized by the PSdeG-PSOE. García Ortiz had attended an interview with university professors on behalf of the UPF. The PP, which was then blocking the renewal of the CGPJ, transformed it into an “Electoral Rally of the PSOE”. Nor is Peramato expected to suffer the same in this regard.
With information from Virginia Martínez, Paula Chouza and José Marcos.
