Spanish leader Sánchez to stay in power after resignation drama

As he “reflected,” leaving the country in suspense and blaming his political enemies for mudslinging that had brought him to the brink of resignation, thousands rallied on the streets to show their support. He finally announced his decision after a portent-filled meeting with King Felipe VI.

The climax was ultimately anticlimactic: He said he would stay.

In a national address, the 52-year old from the center-left Socialist party, used the moment to reflect on a political reality that is today the norm far beyond Spain. Americans in particular can relate to it: the bitter polarization between right and left that has led to total breakdown in civility; the decay of discourse to the point that it has become what he called a “perversion of democracy.” He asked: “Is this what we want for Spain?”

“My wife and I know this will not stop,” he said, adding they were grateful for the support of the past few days, which, he said, had helped him to reach a decision. “I have decided to stay, to continue with more strength even as the head … of the government of Spain.”

Sánchez called for a collective reflection: “We should decide what kind of society we want to be.” He added: “I call on the Spanish society to become an example, an inspiration for a world convulsing and hurt, because the evil we are confronted with is far from exclusive to Spain. It is part of a global reactionary movement that aims to impose its regressive agenda through falsehood and defamation, hatred, fear.”

Sánchez is known for risky political gambits. But the past days reflected what analysts saw as a new height in Spanish political theater, even for him. It was, perhaps, a tactic aimed at whipping his fractious alliance of disparate parties in parliament into line at a time when his increasingly weak government has been unable to muster the votes to pass a budget. That alliance, which includes unruly Catalan separatists, is largely built on one shared goal: a desire to prevent the rise of a conservative government that also could contain the far-right Vox party, a political force anathema to them all.

Sánchez may have been sending the smaller parties he counts on to govern a reminder that he is the only person standing between them and such a government. But in the process, he may have also undermined his credibility with the nation.

“He has created a serious uncertainty in the country without this leading to a significant change, neither on his political principles nor on his parliamentary support,” said Pablo Simón, a political scientist and professor at the University Carlos III of Madrid. “This is very counterproductive and has been rather irresponsible on his part.”

Sánchez’s abrupt announcement of a period of reflection last week had captivated more than just Spain. European watchers were abuzz with speculation that the Spaniard known as “Mr. Handsome” might be a contender to lead the European Council, which represents the bloc’s leaders, or even as a long-shot challenger to the front-runner for the new head of NATO — the outgoing Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte.

His decision to stay provoked a predictable backlash from the political right, which has intensified its opposition against the prime minister following his decision to back a law to amnesty hundreds of Catalan separatists in a bid to shore up his position in parliament. Santiago Abascal, head of the Vox party, described Sanchez’s maneuver in a news conference as a “coarse, indignant” attempt at “victimization.”

Alberto Núñez Feijóo, head of the larger, center-right opposition People’s Party (PP), had initially denounced Sánchez’s move last week as an act of “narcissism” and “infantilism” unthinkable “for a mature person.” He did not hold back Monday after Sánchez’s announcement, saying “this is not comedy. This is tragedy.”

“Spain doesn’t have a leader equal to its citizens,” he told reporters. “For this I want to ask Spaniards for forgiveness in the name of the political classes, and patience in the name of reason.”

Among politicians in the small parties that back the prime minister’s coalition in parliament, reaction was mixed. Some, like the Basque independence party EH Bildu, appeared to support Sánchez’s decision to highlight incivility. But other partners were more critical.

“This has been the last act of a comedy that has lasted five days in which people’s feelings have been played with, which has ended in a performance in the form of a sermon, a sensationalist gesture without concrete proposals to combat the ultraright,” said Pere Aragonès, head of the Catalonia government.

Sánchez’s minority government faces critical tests in the coming months. His socialists are poised to best separatists parties in local Catalan elections next month, which could cause at least one of them to pull their support for him on the national level.

In June, Sánchez will face key elections for European Parliament in which the right wing is poised to make gains that could embarrass his government.

The drama that led to the announcement was triggered Wednesday after news broke that an investigating judge in Madrid had opened a case against Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, over alleged corruption and influence peddling. The investigation was sparked by Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), an organization linked to the far right that filed a complaint based on news reports, largely in the conservative press.

Those reports claimed that Gómez took advantage of her position as wife of the prime minister to secure a bailout for the Spanish airline Air Europa. Pandemic-era corporate bailouts, however, were par for the course in Spain. Spanish media outlets have reported that neither Gómez nor the public prosecutor’s office were informed about the investigation and that only the editors in chief of media organizations have been called to testify.

Later that day, in an unprecedented move, Sánchez published “a letter to the citizens” on social media calling the case part of a “harassment” operation “to try to bring me down both politically and personally, by attacking my wife.” Sánchez accused the leaders of the PP and Vox of involvement.

In addition to the case against his wife, Sánchez’s government is also facing an investigation into an alleged scheme by an aide of the former minister of transportation to collect illegal commissions on pandemic-era medical contracts.

Sánchez, a trained economist, has led the Socialist Party since 2014 and was the first politician in Spain to kick out a sitting prime minister through a no-confidence vote in 2018. He emerged as one of the continent’s leading liberals. His threatened exit came at a time when the European left has suffered defeats in Portugal and the Netherlands and the far and center right is poised for major gains in the European Parliamentary elections in June.

During his two mandates, he has focused on gender equality, increasing the minimum salary by law, reinforcing workers’ rights and protecting LGBTQ and women’s rights. Some of those efforts — particularly a transgender law that allows people as young as 16 to legally change their gender on national IDs without medical supervision — sparked a significant backlash, including within his own party.