Eight Years In, Sánchez Fights for Political Survival as Scandals Swarm His Socialist Party

June 1 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 far more likely to be plotting political survival than celebrating.

His musician brother, David Sánchez, has just gone on trial accused of influence peddling. Former Socialist prime minister and close Sánchez ally José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has been named in an investigation into alleged money laundering. 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." And a judge has been investigating the business affairs of Sánchez's wife, Begoña Gómez, since 2024, recently proposing she go on trial for misuse of funds and influence peddling.

The accumulation of cases has generated a growing clamor from the opposition for Sánchez's resignation and speculation that his government might soon collapse. "The accumulation of cases makes clear that these are not isolated episodes or the fruit of dark conspiracies," warned center-left newspaper El País, traditionally sympathetic to the Socialist Party. "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 €50 million 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 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.

The case against Zapatero is also extremely damaging – in great part because he is a close Sánchez ally who has commanded enormous respect on the left for reforms he introduced during his 2004-2011 administration, including same-sex marriage, historical memory, and gender violence. The separatist group Eta ended its four-decade campaign of violence during his tenure. "Symbolically speaking, this is very significant," said Paco Camas, head of public opinion in Spain for polling firm Ipsos. Zapatero, due to be questioned in court on June 17, insists he has done nothing illegal. For now, at least, he has Sánchez's "full support."

The investigation that led to a 12-hour police raid on Socialist Party headquarters this week adds another dimension. The allegation is that the party paid member Leire Díez to carry out a campaign to discredit police, judges, and prosecutors who were investigating existing cases, such as that affecting Cerdán, who has been named as a suspect. Díez denies 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, are that he was appointed to a musical post in Badajoz without undergoing a selection process, and that once in the role he did not carry out his duties. His wife, Begoña Gómez, has been summoned for a preliminary hearing on June 9. Sánchez has criticized the cases against his brother and wife, pointing out that they originated in accusations made by far-right organizations. So far, he has not cast doubt on the cases against Zapatero or Díez.

The leader of the conservative People's Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, described the litany of scandals as "a criminal carousel" and called for Sánchez to resign and bring forward next year's general election. But Sánchez, renowned for his political resilience, 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 – preventing it from approving a single new budget this legislature.

One of those partners, the Basque Nationalist Party, hinted that its patience is wearing thin, suggesting that waiting until 2027 for the next election would be an "irresponsibility." However, loss of parliamentary support does not necessarily mean the end. There does not seem to be enough support for the opposition to win a no-confidence vote – which is how Sánchez himself came into power in 2018. Parties that want more autonomy for their regions fear the centralizing intentions of a PP government, possibly in coalition with the far-right Vox.

"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," said Camas. "It can dig in." He believes that, like last year, the summer break could provide a badly needed respite, allowing the government to recover some political initiative in September.

Another question is whether ill-feeling within Socialist ranks could spread. 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. "There would have to be an internal rebellion of mayors and regional leaders who are concerned that the contagion effect of this government's reputation could have an impact on the May 2027 local elections," said Lluís Orriols, a political scientist at Carlos III University. "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 the great survivor. "This is a government which has been in a very delicate situation for some time now," said Orriols. "Don't rule out the possibility of it running out of air soon."