Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez marks eight years in office on 1 June amid mounting corruption investigations that threaten the institutional stability of his Socialist government and raise fundamental questions about accountability in Spain's political system. The scandals have engulfed senior party officials, family members, and a former prime minister, prompting opposition calls for resignation and early elections.
The Cascade of Investigations
The Socialist Party's troubles began in 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, was expelled from the party and recently went on trial, where he 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. Sánchez said of Cerdán: "The Socialist Party and I should not have trusted him." Both Cerdán and Ábalos deny wrongdoing.
The investigations have now reached former Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, a close Sánchez ally. The case accuses him of using his influence to secure a €53m government bailout of Plus Ultra airline in 2021 and receiving a commission in return. Zapatero is due to be questioned in court on 17 June and has insisted he has done nothing illegal. For now, he has Sánchez's "full support." Zapatero commanded enormous respect on the left for reforms he introduced during his 2004-2011 administration, including same-sex marriage, historical memory and gender violence.
Paco Camas, head of public opinion in Spain for polling firm Ipsos, said: "Symbolically speaking, this is very significant." He added: "The fact that this is the first former prime minister [to be investigated] makes it extremely serious. But also because he has been a moral reference for the party."
Raid on Party Headquarters
Police conducted a 12-hour raid on Socialist Party headquarters in Madrid this week as part of a probe into allegations of a dirty tricks campaign that the opposition has dubbed "the Socialists' Watergate." The investigation centers on allegations that the party paid member Leire Díez to carry out a campaign to discredit police, judges and prosecutors who were investigating existing cases, including the one affecting Cerdán, who has been named as a suspect in the probe. Díez has denied that she performed this role.
Sánchez himself has not been directly implicated in any of the investigations, but family members have. The allegations against his brother, David, who went on trial on Thursday, are that he was appointed to a musical post in Badajoz in south-west Spain without undergoing a selection process and that once in the role he did not carry out his duties. A judge has been investigating the business affairs of the prime minister's wife, Begoña Gómez, since 2024 and has proposed she go on trial for misuse of funds and influence peddling. She has been summoned for a preliminary hearing on 9 June. Sánchez has criticised the cases against his brother and wife, pointing to the fact that they originated in accusations made by far-right organisations.
Political Fallout and Government Survival
Centre-left newspaper El País said: "The accumulation of cases makes clear that these are not isolated episodes or the fruit of dark conspiracies." It added: "The investigations are linked to the nucleus of power which has governed for the past eight years."
Sánchez's combative transport minister, Óscar Puente, said: "there is a government that some want to bring down, not through the ballot box, but with other dark arts, with undemocratic methods." The leader of the conservative People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, described the scandals as "a criminal carousel" and called for Sánchez to resign and bring forward next year's general election.
Sánchez has insisted he will see out the parliament's full legislative term. His minority coalition government has struggled to manage its parliamentary partners, an array of regional nationalist and left-wing parties, and has not approved a single new budget this legislature. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) hinted that its patience is wearing thin, suggesting that waiting until 2027 for the next election would be an "irresponsibility." However, there does not seem to be enough support for the opposition to win a no-confidence vote, which was how Sánchez himself came into power in 2018.
Paco Camas said: "I don't see an incentive for the government to call elections, however blocked the situation may be and however much it is affected by scandal." He added: "It can dig in." He said the summer break could provide the government with a badly needed respite, allowing it to recover some political initiative in September.
The president of the Castilla-La Mancha region, Emiliano García-Page, and former Prime Minister Felipe González, both regular Sánchez critics, have called for early elections. Lluís Orriols, a political scientist at Carlos III University, said: "There would have to be an internal rebellion of mayors and regional leaders who are concerned that the contagion effect of the reputation of this government could have an impact on the May [2027 local] elections." He added: "But right now we're not seeing that kind of revolt."
Sánchez's future is likely to depend to a great extent on how the investigations develop. Further explosive cases, or evidence of illegal financing in the Socialist Party, could trigger an exodus of parliamentary partners and make the pressure unbearable, even for Sánchez. Orriols said: "This is a government which has been in a very delicate situation for some time now. Don't rule out the possibility of it running out of air soon."
Why This Matters:
The accumulation of corruption investigations affecting Spain's governing Socialist Party raises critical questions about institutional integrity and fiscal accountability. The inability to pass a single budget during this legislative term demonstrates the practical costs of political instability for effective governance and economic management. With investigations touching the "nucleus of power" that has governed for eight years, according to El País, the scandals threaten not only the current administration but public confidence in governmental institutions. The government's reliance on a fragile coalition of regional nationalist and left-wing parties means that further revelations could trigger parliamentary collapse, creating uncertainty for markets and investors. The investigations into alleged kickbacks involving tens of millions of euros in public contracts and bailouts underscore the importance of transparency and accountability mechanisms in protecting taxpayer resources from misuse.