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Local elections today, Spain tests Sánchez's political future

2025-12-21 16:16:53Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Local elections today, Spain tests Sánchez's political future
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Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, hit by a political crisis, faces a crucial test this Sunday when voters in the southwestern region of Extremadura will cast their ballots in the first major elections to be held after a series of corruption and sexual harassment allegations that have engulfed his inner circle, party and administration.

Extremadura, once a stronghold of the Socialist Workers' Party of Spain (PSOE), led by Sánchez, has been under the control of the People's Party (PP) since 2023, when the conservatives managed to form a brief coalition with the far-right Vox party, despite finishing behind the Socialists in the vote.

Sunday's snap election was called two months ago by the regional president, María Guardiola, after the PSOE and its former allies in Vox defeated next year's budget.

The Guardian writes that although formally these are regional elections, the results are expected to have an impact beyond Extremadura. Politicians and analysts will be watching carefully to see how much damage the accusations of recent weeks and months have caused to the PSOE, while the PP is likely to be forced to make a deal with Vox again to govern.

The Socialist candidate, Miguel Ángel Gallardo, is facing trial for influence peddling and abuse of office, over allegations that he helped create a special post for the prime minister’s brother, David Sánchez, eight years ago. The case stems from a complaint by the self-proclaimed far-right union Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), which has a long history of using the courts to prosecute those it deems harmful to Spain’s democratic interests.

Gallardo and David Sánchez, who face the same charges, have denied them. The case is one of many that have damaged the image of the prime minister, who came to power in 2018 promising an end to corruption.

Sánchez's wife, Begoña Gómez, has been accused of using her influence to secure sponsors for a university master's program she directed and of using state funds to pay her assistant for personal matters. She has denied the charges, while the current judicial investigation is also the result of a complaint by Manos Limpias.

In June, Sánchez ordered the resignation of his right-hand man, Santos Cerdán, as the PSOE’s organizational secretary after a Supreme Court judge found “strong evidence” of his involvement in taking bribes over public contracts for sanitary equipment during the Covid pandemic. Former transport minister José Luis Ábalos and his former assistant, Koldo García, are also accused of involvement in the affair. All three have denied the charges.

In recent weeks, the PSOE has been accused of failing to address cases of sexual harassment by senior figures within the party. The accusations are particularly damaging given that Sánchez, when he entered the Moncloa palace seven years ago, declared that the PSOE was “unequivocally committed to equality” and to reflecting changes in Spanish society.

The PP has seized the opportunity. Its leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, said he hopes Sunday's regional elections will start a "domino effect" that will topple Sánchez and save Spain from what he calls a "swamp of corruption, sexism and blackmail."


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