A judicial investigation into Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s former prime minister, has been reopened after the discovery of jewellery valued at €1.2 million linked to his household. The items, comprising watches and gemstone pieces, were found during a separate anti-corruption raid on a Madrid property formerly used by the Popular Party (PP).
Sources close to the investigation confirm that the jewels were registered under the name of Rajoy’s wife, Elvira Fernández, but their provenance remains unclear. The discovery has prompted the National Court to examine whether the assets were undeclared gifts from businessmen seeking government contracts, a practice that has dogged the PP for years.
Rajoy, who led Spain from 2011 to 2018, has not commented publicly. His legal team issued a statement denying any wrongdoing, describing the jewellery as family heirlooms. However, the timing of the find is politically combustible. Rajoy’s successor, Pedro Sánchez, has made anti-corruption a central plank of his administration, and the PP is already struggling to recover from a string of graft scandals that culminated in its no-confidence defeat in 2018.
The investigation is being led by Judge Manuel García-Castellón, a hardline magistrate known for pursuing high-profile corruption cases. His office has confirmed that the jewellery is being appraised by independent experts, with preliminary estimates placing its value at approximately €1.2 million. A formal inquiry into possible tax evasion and illicit enrichment has been opened.
The case has been complicated by the fact that the jewels were discovered in a safe deposit box at a bank branch in central Madrid, which was not initially linked to Rajoy. The box was found during a raid related to the Gürtel case, a sprawling corruption network that has already sent several PP figures to prison. It is unclear how long the items had been stored there.
Political analysts note that the probe carries significant risk for the PP, which is currently leading in opinion polls ahead of the next general election. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the party’s current leader, has sought to distance himself from the Rajoy era, but this new development threatens to reignite accusations of a culture of impunity within the party’s upper ranks.
In a brief statement, the PP’s national executive board said it had “full confidence in the justice system” and urged restraint until the facts were established. But the opposition has seized on the story, with the socialist party calling for a parliamentary commission to investigate the origins of the jewellery.
The National Court has set a deadline of 30 days for Rajoy to provide documentary evidence of the jewellery’s legal acquisition. Failure to do so could result in charges of money laundering and falsifying tax returns. For now, the former prime minister remains under judicial scrutiny, a reminder of the persistent entanglement of Spanish politics with corruption allegations.
