It is a tragedy whose consequences are for the moment very uncertain. Devastating floods in southeastern Spain since Tuesday evening have so far caused 95 deaths, including 92 in the Valencia region alone. A toll that could continue to rise in the coming hours, while many people remain missing.
“We will not leave you alone,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez assured this Wednesday, calling on residents of the regions concerned to remain vigilant, because “we cannot consider that this devastating episode is over.” If it obviously cannot be held responsible for this natural disaster, the reaction of its government will be particularly closely monitored in the coming days. Especially when the head of the Iberian government has just gone through such a “black October”, as summarized by the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.
Controversies and scandals have been piling up in recent weeks. But the one that has perhaps had the most impact in recent weeks is undoubtedly the resounding resignation of Iñigo Errejón, spokesperson in Parliament for the coalition of radical left parties Sumar, the main ally of Pedro Sánchez. The cause? Accusations of sexual assault by several women on social networks against the man who was the co-founder of the Podemos party in 2014. The actress and television host Elisa Mouliaá, who first testified anonymously on social networks, then brought complaint to the police. The institution then sent the file to the courts, which deemed its complaint admissible on Tuesday, October 29.
“An executive caught off guard”
Faced with pressure from his own camp, Iñigo Errejón finally chose to resign after forty-eight hours and withdraw from political life. But for the Sumar group as for Pedro Sánchez, this affair will leave its mark, as feminism and the fight against sexual violence were at the heart of their political commitment.
Their inability to notice the warning signs of this scandal – or the choice not to pay attention to them, depending on the version – is particularly questionable. “The vigor with which the leaders of Sumar challenged Errejón last week marks an inconsistency between public discourse and private action in an affair so central to this political camp,” underlines the progressive newspaper El País in an editorial. Damage which will perhaps not be able to be compensated by the ardor with which the leaders of Sumar, but also those of the PSOE, are showing to reaffirm their solidarity with the victims of sexist and sexual violence and to ensure that all light would be shed. made on this matter.
And if the person accused by the facts remains and remains Iñigo Errejón, this affair particularly weakens the Minister of Labor Yolanda Díaz, one of the vice-presidents of the Spanish government and feminist figure of the Sumar coalition. “The revelation of the Errejón affair took by surprise an executive who boasts of his feminism. Knowing that he cannot do without his minority partner, Pedro Sánchez gives Yolanda Díaz room to maneuver and oxygen, in the worst moment she is going through”, relates the newspaper El Mundo.
Corruption cases
If this affair damages the already fragile coalition of Pedro Sánchez, who is holding his majority by a thread, the Spanish Prime Minister has been surrounded by several other controversies in recent weeks. First there is the return of the corruption affair targeting his wife, which almost led the head of the Spanish government to resign last April. The judge leading the investigation decided this Tuesday to extend his investigations to other potential crimes and therefore to summon her again on November 18, when Begoña Gómez was already accused of corruption and influence peddling. “All the complaints that have been filed against my wife come from the same far-right organizations,” assured Pedro Sanchez from Mumbai where he is traveling, saying he is “convinced that time will (put) things back in their place.”
Added to this… another case of corruption. The Spanish press thus published during the month of October a report from the Spanish authorities confirming a complex corruption scandal during the pandemic, at the heart of which appears the former right-hand man and minister of Pedro Sánchez, José Luis Ábalos. The latter would have awarded contracts for the purchase of masks during the Covid period with a dubious businessman, named Victor de Aldama, in exchange for juicy gifts.
This affair had already been revealed by the Spanish press last February, and had led to the dismissal from the Socialist Party of the man who still sits in the Spanish Parliament, as an independent. But the confirmation of these accusations by the Spanish police puts another piece in this scandal. And to make matters worse for Pedro Sánchez, El Mundo published a photo of the Spanish Prime Minister in the company of this famous Víctor de Aldama, taken in 2019. This alone does not in any way establish any link between the two men. But it contributes to maintaining doubt and distrust towards the Prime Minister.
“It’s going to continue to get more complicated.”
Because all these affairs, taken together, clearly threaten the political future of Pedro Sánchez. “What was the worst thing that could happen to the PSOE? Being tainted by corruption, after ousting the government of Mariano Rajoy [NDLR : l’ancien Premier ministre espagnol] by a motion of censure due to the numerous affairs which affected the executive of the Popular Party. And what’s the worst that could happen to Sumar, who had placed feminism at the center of his politics? That a leader of his party is involved in allegations of sexual harassment and abuse”, sums up quite clearly La Vanguardia.
In the background, it is the main right-wing opposition party, the Popular Party, which wants to take advantage of these repeated cases to overthrow the Sánchez government. But without wanting to do too much and showing patience, as assured by their leader Alberto Feijóo – who nevertheless calls every week for the resignation of the Spanish Prime Minister -. “It will continue to get complicated,” he assured privately to the leaders of his party, according to El Mundosaying that “each piece of information that comes out is more serious than the last.” Despite everything, Pedro Sánchez assures him: “the left will run again in 2027 and we will continue to govern”. Let the Spanish Prime Minister take a look at France to realize how long three years can be.