Spain's Attorney General resigns after Supreme Court conviction for leaking confidential information

Álvaro García Ortiz resigned as Spain's Attorney General on Monday, Spanish newspaper El País revealed and the Catalan News Agency (ACN) later confirmed via prosecution sources.

The country's top prosecutor stepped down after the Supreme Court last week barred him from holding public office for two years for leaking confidential information.

The case centred on a leak to the press concerning Alberto González Amador, the partner of Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, indicating that he had admitted to tax fraud as part of a plea deal to avoid prison.

Although García Ortiz denied all accusations, a majority of conservative judges on the Supreme Court found him guilty, in a ruling many experts have described as an example of lawfare.

In his resignation letter, García Ortiz expressed his "profound respect" for judicial decisions and said he "will not even wait to learn the reasoning of the ruling" before stepping down.

"Once the verdict is known, it is time to relinquish such a high responsibility," he wrote.

García Ortiz, who had served as Attorney General since 2022, said he was convinced he had acted with "loyalty" to the institution, guided by an "unequivocal vocation for public service and a sense of integrity and institutional loyalty."

He also thanked Spain’s Socialist-led government for the trust it placed in him during his appointment and for standing by him throughout the judicial process.

"The trust placed in me then is the same trust I now return, understanding that once the court's decision is known, it is time to step aside," he concluded.

The Spanish government had already announced that in the coming days it would launch the process to appoint a new Attorney General.