Fresh
scandal hits Spain’s ruling party as official quits over sexual harassment
claims
Pressure
grows on Pedro Sánchez to call snap election as latest resignation adds to
corruption allegations
Sam Jones
in Madrid
Sat 5 Jul
2025 15.36 CEST
Pedro
Sánchez’s efforts to reset Spain’s ruling socialist party after damaging
corruption allegations that threatened to topple his coalition government have
suffered a severe setback after a party official resigned over accusations of
sexual harassment.
The prime
minister had hoped this weekend’s meeting of the federal committee of his
Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) would help the party move past weeks of
scandals that have undermined the ethical and anti-corruption pledges on which
it came to power seven years ago.
But such
hopes were flattened late on Friday night after the online newspaper elDiario
published allegations from various female PSOE workers who said they had been
subjected to sexual harassment by Francisco Salazar, who oversaw institutional
coordination at the Moncloa palace, the office and official residence of the
prime minister.
The
accusations prompted Salazar to announce on Saturday that he was stepping down
from that post and from his new role as a deputy in the PSOE’s organisational
secretariat.
He told
elDiario he could not recall any inappropriate interactions. “I’ve racked my
brains over it and it seems mind-boggling to me,” he said. “I keep wondering if
I’ve screwed up and said something inappropriate to a workmate, and the truth
is, I can’t find [an example].”
Sources
at Moncloa, in Madrid, said an investigation had been launched, but added that
no official complaints had so far been made against Salazar.
On
Saturday, Sánchez apologised again for what he called his misplaced confidence
in those accused of wrongdoing, adding: “I was wrong to place my trust in
people who didn’t deserve it, but we won’t fall short in a time of democratic
regeneration.”
The prime
minister, who is under growing pressure to call a snap election, said he had no
intention of stepping down.
“The
captain doesn’t shirk his responsibility when the sea gets rough; he stays put
to ride out the storm and guide the ship to port,” he said.
Salazar’s
resignation is the latest blow to the prime minister’s authority and judgment.
On
Monday, Santos Cerdán – who served as the PSOE’s organisational secretary and
was Sánchez’ right-hand man – was remanded in custody after a supreme court
judge found “firm evidence” of his possible involvement in taking kickbacks on
public construction contracts.
The
investigation began after the Guardia Civil police anti-corruption unit handed
material to the court that suggested Cerdán had discussed taking such kickbacks
with the former PSOE transport minister José Luis Ábalos and one of the
minister’s aides, Koldo García. Ábalos and García are also under investigation
and have denied wrongdoing. Cerdán, who stepped down from his party role and
resigned his parliamentary seat shortly after the news broke, has vowed to
clear his name.
Sánchez,
who became prime minister in 2018 after using a motion of no confidence to turf
the corruption-mired conservative People’s party (PP) out of government, is
already contending with graft investigations relating to his wife and his
brother, who deny any wrongdoing. A former PSOE member was also recently
implicated in an alleged smear campaign against the Guardia Civil unit
investigating the corruption allegations.
The PP
said the latest allegations were further proof of the prime minister’s poor
judgment and his unfitness to lead the country.
“He has
no credibility and his supposed fight against corruption and sexism is mere
posturing,” PP sources said on Saturday. “Sánchez is as good at being prime
minister as he is at talent-spotting. Either there aren’t many decent people in
his party or he’s not very good at choosing people who deserve to be in Spanish
politics.”
Calls for
a fresh election are also beginning to bubble up within some sections of the
socialist party. Emiliano García-Page, the PSOE president of the Castilla-La
Mancha region, said the time had come to let parliament and the people have
their say.
According
to elDiario, García-Page used Saturday’s party meeting to ask Sánchez to
consider holding a confidence vote in parliament. “I don’t know if we’ll win
it,” he said. “But if we don’t, then don’t rule out the option of calling an
election.”
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