Spain’s attorney general quits after guilty verdict for leaking confidential information
NEWS | 24 November 2025
Spain’s chief prosecutor has announced his resignation after the supreme court found him guilty last week of leaking confidential information in a case involving a leading opposition figure’s partner. The unprecedented case is a blow to the leftist coalition government of the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, who appointed Álvaro García Ortiz in 2022 and has defended his innocence repeatedly. In a letter seen by Reuters, García Ortiz said his decision to step down, before the sentence banning him from his post for two years, came from “profound respect” for judicial rulings. “Though my decision stems directly from the ruling, I’m convinced that I’ve faithfully served the institution to which I am honoured to belong, with an unequivocal vocation for public service, a sense of duty and institutional loyalty,” read the letter to the justice minister, Félix Bolaños. His departure was widely expected even though the supreme court has yet to give its rationale for the verdict and García Ortiz may still appeal before Spain’s constitutional court and ultimately the European court of human rights in Strasbourg. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Headlines Europe Free newsletter A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion “We respect the court’s decision but do not agree with it,” a government spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, told the state broadcaster TVE after García Ortiz’s resignation, adding that the lack of unanimity and notification of the verdict without a full ruling set a worrying precedent and had generated “stupefaction” among the public.
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