Spain's Sánchez digs in after eight years as PM as wave of scandals threatens survival

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: Spain's Sánchez digs in after eight years as PM as wave of scandals threatens survival10 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleGuy HedgecoeIn MadridNurPhoto via Getty ImagesPedro Sánchez has not been directly implicated in any of the investigations, but allies and relatives have1 June marks exactly eight years since Pedro Sánchez became prime minister of Spain, but with his government and Socialist Party besieged by corruption investigations he is more likely to be plotting his political survival than celebrating. His musician brother, David, has just gone on trial accused of influence peddling. Former Socialist prime minister and close Sánchez ally José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has been named in an investigation into alleged money laundering.

And police have raided the Socialist headquarters in Madrid as part of a probe into allegations of a dirty tricks campaign that the opposition has dubbed "the Socialists' Watergate". These probes and others have generated a growing clamour by the opposition for Sánchez's resignation and speculation that his government might soon collapse. via Getty ImagesSpain's centre-right opposition has called on the prime minister to step down and call elections"The accumulation of cases makes clear that these are not isolated episodes or the fruit of dark conspiracies," warned centre-left newspaper El País, traditionally sympathetic to the Socialist Party.

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"The investigations are linked to the nucleus of power which has governed for the past eight years. "The Socialist Party has been under scrutiny since 2023, when José Luis Ábalos, a former transport minister and deputy party leader, was implicated in an investigation into a network that allegedly received kickbacks from the sale of €50m (£43m) worth of facemasks during the Covid-19 pandemic. Ábalos, who denies involvement but was expelled from the party, recently went on trial and is awaiting the verdict.

Last year, he was also implicated in a broader kickbacks-for-contracts case, along with Socialist Party number three Santos Cerdán. That case came as a huge blow to Sánchez, who had vigorously defended Cerdán from allegations in the media until evidence from the probe was made public. "The Socialist Party and I should not have trusted him," the prime minister said.

Both Cerdán and Ábalos deny wrongdoing. Spanish police raid HQ of governing Socialists as corruption probe escalatesSpanish PM's wife charged with corruption after two-year probeSpanish PM sorry for corruption scandal as opposition demands resignationReutersThe headquarters of Sánchez's party was raided earlier this weekThe case against Zapatero, in which he is accused of using his influence to secure a €53m government bailout of Plus Ultra airline in 2021 and receiving a commission in return, is also extremely damaging for the Socialist Party.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.