Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stuns Spain as he announces he is considering resigning after a corruption investigation targeting his wife

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday he would step back from public work “for a few days” to decide whether he wants to continue leading the government after a court launched a corruption probe into his wife’s private affairs, Reuters writes .

Pedro Sanchez, who last year won a new mandate for Spain’s Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) as leader of a minority coalition government, said he would announce his decision on Monday, April 29.

“I need to stop and think,” he wrote in a message on his X account.

“At this point, I have to ask myself: is it all worth it? Frankly, I don’t know whether I should continue to lead the government or give up this honor. I will cancel my public schedule for a few days to reflect and decide which path to take,” he said.

The shock announcement came after a Spanish court announced on Wednesday it was launching a preliminary investigation into allegations of influence peddling and corruption against Sanchez’s wife, Begona Gomez.

The court investigating Gomez did not provide further details because the case is in its early stages, saying only that the investigation was launched following a complaint by the anti-corruption organization Manos Limpias – Clean Hands, whose leader has ties to extreme right.

Manos Limpias accused Gomez of receiving favors from airline Air Europa and Spanish holding company Globalia during her tenure as director of an African research center at Madrid’s IE business school until 2022, according to to a document published by the Cadena Ser radio station on its website.

IE said in a statement that it has never received financial support from Globalia or its entities. Globalia did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters on Wednesday.

Sanchez said the severity of the attacks against him and his wife warranted a measured response. He said his wife had done nothing wrong and would cooperate with the investigation and defend her innocence. Gomez has not commented.

In the message, Sanchez also targeted opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo of the Popular Party (PP) and Santiago Abascal of the far-right party Vox, saying they had “collaborated” with those who broadcast the charges against his wife.

Feijoo said Sanchez tried to blame the activities of the judges on the opposition parties.

“The prime minister has a judicial problem. He runs away from his responsibilities. What he should have done is explain. If he has nothing to fear, why not? If his wife has nothing to fear, she should go to court and clarify her innocence,” he said.

Sanchez’s risky strategies

Several members of Sanchez’s cabinet were seen arriving at his residence Wednesday evening.

His ministers publicly supported him. Yolanda Diaz, the labor minister and leader of Sumar, the government’s leftist coalition partner, said Sanchez had “his full support.”

“The right-wing offensive cannot win,” she wrote on X. “We must defend democracy, the progressive bloc and the legitimacy of the coalition government that has improved people’s lives so much.”

Sanchez’s announcement, writes Reuters, once again confirms his appetite for unexpected and possibly risky strategies.

Last year, he called early elections after his party, PSOE, achieved poor results in regional elections. Although the conservatives won more seats in parliament, they failed to secure a majority in July’s national election.

The aftermath saw the Socialist prime minister strike a controversial deal with smaller regional parties to govern, which included an amnesty for Catalans involved in staging the 2017 independence referendum.

This decision further strained an already polarized political atmosphere and led to repeated attacks on him and his party not only from opposition leaders but also from the judiciary.

When he called the snap election, Sanchez announced to very few members of his inner circle, surprising most. According to Reuters sources, on Wednesday, Sanchez discussed the decision beforehand only with family and close friends, drafting the letter himself without consulting advisers.

The resignation could trigger early elections

Should Sanchez resign, parliament could elect another prime minister, but given its fractured nature, it seems unlikely that one will prevail, Lluis Orriols, a political science professor at Carlos III University, told Reuters from Madrid.

The more likely option would be early elections, Orriols said.

Abascal, the leader of Vox, said in response to Sanchez’s letter that he should have “retired a long time ago” because of the amnesty granted to Catalan separatists.

“We don’t know if this is another propaganda ploy by him to portray himself as a poor victim,” he said.

Corruption scandals have dogged the politics of the Iberian Peninsula in recent years.

Sanchez himself took power after successfully leading a no-confidence vote in 2018 against Mariano Rajoy, the former conservative leader, amid a scandal involving several party officials.