It’s either Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is truly so unfortunate that he gets tangled up, innocently, in one corruption scandal after the other, all caused by the ‘few bad apples’ hiding in his circles, or there’s something profoundly wrong with the party he’s leading, and consequently, with his leadership capabilities.
When the centre-right Peoples Party (PP) was accused of practicing ‘institutionalised corruption’, Sánchez called the people to the ballots by promising ‘democratic regeneration’. He failed spectacularly in achieving it.
There’s been barely a month without some serious accusation against a member of his government, his Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), or horribile dictu, his closest family.
The biggest scandal was, beyond any doubt, the case involving Santos Cerdán, the secretary of the PSOE. Sánchez’s right-hand man was accused of operating kickback schemes with former party officials (for example with former transport minister José Luis Ábalos and ex-adviser Koldo García) and awarding public contracts to those who lined their pockets – playing with more than just the scarce euros in the Spanish budget, given that said contracts were about face masks during Covid-19. But the pair is also linked to illegal construction licences and other irregularities in awarding public works contracts.
Trying to save the day, the prime minister unveiled a plan to root out corruption from his party.
The set of 15 measures includes preventing companies found guilty of bribery from winning government procurement contracts and international cooperation (e.g. with the OECD) to ‘crack down on graft’.
Quite unluckily for Sánchez, the ripples from the Koldo Case have barely settled when José Luis Ábalos was linked to a sexual misconduct scandal (understand: was filmed arranging meetings with sex workers). Another aide to Sánchez, Francisco Salazar joined the ranks of PSOE party officials with problems with self-restraint, as he was also accused of sexual harassment. To make it worse, evidence suggests that the party tried to sweep this ‘minor inconvenience’ under the rug. But the accusations against Sánchez’s wife hit the closest to home – closely followed by the accusations against his brother, though. Begona Gomez must face accusations of alleged corruption and influence peddling, while David Sánchez will likely stand trial for alleged influence peddling and administrative misconduct.
If this hadn’t been enough, another Sánchez ally, Attorney General Alvaro García Ortiz was forced to resign from his post after the Supreme Court suspended him for two years and fined him for disclosing confidential information about Alberto Gonzáles Amador (partner of Madrid regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso).
Other Socialist officials involved in corruption scandals are Leire Díez, Antxon Alonso Egurrola and Vicente Fernández Guerrero. The latter is the former head of SEPI (a state-owned entity managing business holdings) and is part of the most trusted circle of María Jesús Montero, the vice president of the government. They are accused of bribery, influence peddling and interference in judicial processes – all in a web of personal relationships. In this moment, five major corruption cases are under investigation (along with seven smaller ones, according to El País, that put the total number at twelve) – in one way or another implicating the prime minister, as well.
The total damage is estimated at a whopping EUR265 million. And this list never seems to end.
Public Reaction, Political Pressure, and Governance Challenges
The latest scandal is, in fact, plural: sex scandals, sending shockwaves across the Spanish public sphere and shattering the already fragile foundations of Sánchez’s coalition.
In the party that’s, supposedly, the bulwark of feminism and gender equality, and is, by all accounts the loudest ‘progressive’ political party in Spain, several high-level party officials have been accused of inappropriate behaviour.
As the leadership is unwilling (or unable) to change the attitude, the tide quickly grew into a ‘localized #MeToo movement’ within the PSOE and more skeletons started to fall from the closet: an indecent local mayor here, a deputy secretary or regional president there.
Even members of Sánchez’s coalition government demand a thorough reshuffle, while the opposition demands that Sánchez assumed responsibility for his party’s actions, resigned and called for snap elections.
Pedro Sánchez is … sorry. As always. By now, the prime minister’s reactions are more predictable than his campaign promises during election season – thus nobody was really surprised by what he said on his usual end-of-the-year press conference. He’s sorry for the scandal. He knew nothing of it. But he thinks that it wasn’t systemic. He won’t resign.
Because, ‘he is a clean politician’ and ‘will not throw in the towel’, because, ‘this is not about me, and it’s not about the Socialist party’.
As for the sexual misconduct accusations? ‘The commitment of the government and the Socialist Party to feminism is absolute’.
The Spanish population thinks differently. Though Sánchez still beats many of his European counterparts (think: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron), his approval rating was at 35 percent in November and is shrinking. A more recent poll show even worse results, it puts his approval rating at a dismal 25.7 percent. Support is eroding fast, especially among women who are not fooled by Sánchez’s insistence on being committed to feminism. Thousands took the streets on November 25, 2025, to demand justice, protection, and systemic change, chanting ‘your hypocrisy is violence’ and similar slogans. Female support for the Socialists dropped sharply after the Ábalos and Salazar scandals: from 26.2 percent to 19.4 percent.
Anti-government and anti-corruption demonstrations became commonplace in Madrid and across Spain.
It’s not only because of the increasing evidence of corruption – the economy is performing poorly, affordable housing is no longer a thing and, as the peninsula-wide power outage in April 2025 showed, the consequences of corrupt and/or inefficient governance have spilled over into every sector, making the lives of ordinary Spaniards miserable.
As Politico reported, PSOE local leaders think that Sánchez’s moves to address any of the above crises were ‘as effective as throwing a glass of water on a roaring fire’.
Yet, the prime minister decided to ignore the internal party voices just as much he ignores the outside calls for change.
Obviously, Sánchez feels safe in his position as removing him would require the passage of a censure motion against him. As long as there’s no alternative candidate (someone who has the support of the majority of lawmakers in parliament), he cannot be forced out, no matter that even his coalition partners demand change. The price of the growing political instability will be paid by Spanish voters, but it seems to be a sacrifice Sánchez is willing to take.