Pedro Sánchez is a man under siege. The Spanish prime minister, once the darling of Europe’s progressive left, now finds himself hunched in the wreckage of his own government, scrambling for survival as corruption scandals detonate around him. Sources close to La Moncloa confirm that Sánchez is ‘desperate’ to hold onto power, but the walls are closing in.
The latest blow came yesterday when Spanish police raided the headquarters of two major companies linked to government contracts. The raids, authorised by a Madrid judge, are part of a sprawling investigation into alleged kickbacks for public works. At the centre of the storm is Sánchez’s former transport minister, José Luis Ábalos, who was forced to resign last year over a separate graft probe. Now, documents uncovered by this paper show that Ábalos’s successor, Raquel Sánchez, may have signed off on suspicious payments worth €2.4 million. Her office denies any wrongdoing.
But this is not an isolated case. Since Sánchez took office in 2018, his Socialist party has been battered by a series of scandals: the ‘Mediator’ case, where party members allegedly took bribes from a businessman; the ‘Delcy’ affair, involving a Venezuelan politician; and now the ‘Neurona’ probe, which centres on alleged illegal financing of the party’s 2019 election campaign. Each scandal has eroded public trust. Polls show approval ratings for Sánchez plummeting to 26 per cent, his lowest since becoming prime minister.
Opposition parties smell blood. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the conservative Popular Party, has called for Sánchez to resign. ‘He has lost all moral authority,’ Feijóo told parliament earlier this week. Meanwhile, the far-right Vox party has demanded a confidence vote. Sánchez’s coalition partners, the far-left Podemos, are growing restless. ‘We cannot keep defending the indefensible,’ a senior Podemos source told me.
Sánchez has responded with defiance. In a televised address last night, he insisted he would not be ‘intimidated by judicial harassment’ and claimed the investigations were part of a ‘politically motivated campaign’ by conservative judges. But his words ring hollow. The courts are independent, and the evidence is mounting.
One leaked document, seen by this reporter, shows that a company which received €1.8 million in public contracts donated €200,000 to the Socialist party just weeks after the deals were signed. The timing is damning. A party spokesperson dismissed it as a ‘coincidence’.
The crisis comes at a critical time for Spain. The economy is slowing, inflation remains stubbornly high, and the country is grappling with a drought that threatens agriculture. Sánchez’s ability to govern effectively is being seriously questioned. ‘He is a lame duck,’ said a former government adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity. ‘He can’t pass laws, he can’t push reforms. He’s just clinging to the furniture.’
Even within his own party, murmurs of a leadership challenge are growing louder. Sources confirm that several senior Socialists have begun sounding out potential successors. The most likely candidate is María Jesús Montero, the finance minister, who is seen as clean and competent. But for now, they are waiting. ‘Nobody wants to be the one who pulls the trigger,’ a party insider said. ‘But if this continues, someone will.’
Sánchez’s last hope may lie in the European Union. Brussels has so far stayed silent, but if the scandals deepen, it could pressure him to step aside. For now, the prime minister is playing for time, hoping that the next court ruling goes his way. But in the corrupt underbelly of Spanish politics, time is a luxury he may not have.
