MADRID, Nov 3, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Spain's top prosecutor on Monday goes on trial accused of leaking legal secrets against the conservative opposition, an unprecedented case that has rattled Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government.

The politically explosive case against Alvaro Garcia Ortiz, the first serving attorney general to face trial in Spanish history, is one of several legal affairs embarrassing the minority left-wing coalition.

Garcia Ortiz is accused of leaking case files about Alberto Gonzalez Amador, a businessman under investigation for alleged tax fraud who is the partner of the Madrid region's influential right-wing leader, Isabel Diaz Ayuso.

Her conservative Popular Party (PP) has accused Garcia Ortiz -- appointed by Sanchez's Socialist government in 2022 -- of organising the leak to damage Ayuso, a darling of the Spanish right who has been tipped at times for a national leadership role.

In 2024, media reported that Gonzalez Amador had proposed a plea deal with the public prosecutor's office in which he would admit to alleged tax offences in exchange for avoiding a trial and jail.

The Supreme Court began investigating Garcia Ortiz following a complaint by Gonzalez Amador, accused of defrauding 350,000 euros (around $400,000) from the treasury in 2020 and 2021 as his health company's earnings soared during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Gonzalez Amador is demanding four years in jail for Garcia Ortiz and 300,000 euros for "the moral damage caused".

- 'Alternative narrative' -

If convicted, Garcia Ortiz faces several years in prison and a ban on continuing in his profession. He has denied leaking any information about Gonzalez Amador, either personally or through his office.

Garcia Ortiz's legal team has presented him as the victim of a campaign by the Madrid region's government to distract attention from Gonzalez Amador's legal woes and protect Ayuso.

Ayuso and her staff designed "a strategy that consisted in building and spreading an alternative narrative" which portrayed Gonzalez Amador's troubles as "political persecution", his lawyers wrote before the trial.

The government has repeatedly expressed its full confidence in Garcia Ortiz's innocence and his continuity in his post.

The trial in the Supreme Court will run until November 13, with 12 journalists among the 41 witnesses due to take part.

Gonzalez Amador will testify on Tuesday, while Garcia Ortiz will take the stand on November 12.

Separate corruption investigations targeting the prime minister's wife, brother and two former Socialist heavyweights have threatened to topple Sanchez, who came to power in 2018 promising to clean up Spanish politics.