Prosecutor Dolores Delgado and judge Baltasar Garzón 'a couple'

According to Spanish daily newspaper El Español, rumours that started about the pair possibly being an item as far back as 2018 have turned out to be true, and they have been seen walking out together through the streets of Madrid.

El Español assures that the families of both already know that they are in a relationship, and that they have been together since June, although has not confirmed whether they live in the same household.

Sra Delgado, who started out as a prosecutor, was chosen for her justice ministry rôle and then picked as head of prosecution by the current socialist government, and is an expert on fundamentalist terrorism.

Speaking after the March bombings at Brussels' Zaventem airport and Maelbeek metro station in 2016, she stressed that the risk of major and repeat terrorist attacks of this nature in Spain was lower because of the country's 'successful integration policies' and 'all-inclusive approach to other nationalities' – and, in fact, these rose to the surface after the August 2017 attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, when the sister of one of the terrorists addressed the public on stage and received a tearful standing ovation, and the Iman of a local mosque was seen sobbing in the arms of a Spaniard whose son had been killed in the incident.

Baltasar Garzón was suspended for 11 years from his job as Supreme Court judge, back in January 2012, when Spain was run by the right-wing PP government which had been voted in two months earlier.

He had started investigating crimes against civilians during dictator General Franco's régime, and ordered phones of PP politicians suspected of corruption to be tapped – both of which 'fell outside his jurisdiction'.

The suspension, for 'overstepping his authority', is due to be lifted in January 2023.

Nine months after he was temporarily struck off, Garzón was reported to have moved to Colombia where he was jointly presenting a TV show focused on peace talks with the FARC and the processes used in combating the IRA in Northern Ireland and ETA in Spain.

It is not clear how long he was living in the South American country, but Garzón, 64, is thought to have been back in Madrid for some time.

He and Delgado, 57, have been separated from their respective spouses since 2018.

They first met in 1993 when Delgado was assigned prosecutor in Courtroom 5 at the National Court, based in Spain's capital, and where Garzón was head judge.

Prosecution service sources have been quick to assure everyone that the fact Garzón and Delgado are now a couple will not interfere with the latter's professional practice.