We are now closing this blog but you can read our report on Pedro Sánchez vowing to stay on as leader, here.
Summary of the day
Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, announced in a highly-anticipated televised address that he is staying on as the country’s leader.
His remarks came after he after spent five days reflecting on his future because of what he termed a “harassment and bullying operation” being waged against him and his wife by his political and media enemies.
Sánchez said he had decided to carry on as prime minister despite the attacks he and his family have had to endure.
The prime minister said that “thanks to that social mobilisation, which has influenced my decision, I can tell you what I’ve already told our head of state: I’ve decided to stay and fight even harder as prime minister.”
He also called for an end to political and media attacks, adding: “Let’s stop this mud-slinging by collectively rejecting it … I ask Spanish society to once again become an example and an inspiration to a wounded world.”
Sánchez’s socialist allies welcomed his decision.
Salvador Illa, a former socialist health minister and candidate for regional president for the Catalan branch of the socialist party in the upcoming 12 May Catalan election, welcomed Pedro Sánchez’s decision. “This is the best news for Catalonia,” Illa wrote.
The Socialists and Democrats group in the European parliament said: “European Social Democrats are with you, Pedro.”
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the conservative People’s party (PP), said that “if the prime minister has no problem appearing ridiculous, he can go for it. But the fact that he’s dragging the rest of my country down that road shows that Spanish citizens don’t have a prime minister who’s up to the job.”
The conservative People’s party’s Isabel Díaz Ayuso said “Sánchez has spent years using institutions to persecute political adversaries, judges, the media and journalists, as well as their family circles. His project today is a warning to us that it he will roll over any counterweight that reminds him that there are limits. In the name of impunity.”
Santiago Abascal, the leader of the far-right Vox party, said that “Sánchez’s decision to carry on is a reaffirmation of his coup against unity, against coexistence, against the rule of law, against the separation of powers, and against the freedom of the press.”
'Spanish citizens don’t have a prime minister who’s up to the job,' Feijóo says
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the conservative People’s party (PP) who has accused Pedro Sánchez of navel-gazing, melodrama and failing to live up to his office, said the prime minister’s words and deeds were proof of the need for a change of government.
“Everything we’re living through is just the epilogue for a past that we’re going to overcome,” he said.
“If the prime minister has no problem appearing ridiculous, he can go for it. But the fact that he’s dragging the rest of my country down that road shows that Spanish citizens don’t have a prime minister who’s up to the job,” Feijóo said.
Updated
The Socialists and Democrats group in the European parliament, meanwhile, said: “European Social Democrats are with you, Pedro.”
Good news for Spain and Europe 🌹🇪🇺
— S&D Group (@TheProgressives) April 29, 2024
Prime Minister @sanchezcastejon is an example of tireless defender of democracy and the rights of our citizens. Against the lies of the right and the extreme right.
European Social Democrats are with you, Pedro. https://t.co/umRnrI4Ks6
Rob Roos, a Dutch member of the European parliament and vice chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists group, called Pedro Sánchez a “joke.”
“Beautiful Spain becomes a circus under his leadership,” he said.
This man is a joke. Beautiful Spain becomes a circus under his leadership.@sanchezcastejon 🤡
— Rob Roos MEP 🇳🇱 (@Rob_Roos) April 29, 2024
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro #Sánchez will not resign after allegations against wife https://t.co/vMRTRVOCG6
'Sánchez’s decision to carry on is a reaffirmation of his coup against unity', far-right politician says
Speaking to reporters after Pedro Sánchez’s announcement that he is staying on as prime minister, Santiago Abascal, the leader of the far-right Vox party, said that “for the past five days, Spaniards have been subjected to a crude, shocking and victim-playing piece of theatre that has shamed us internationally.”
Abascal added:
Sánchez’s decision to carry on is a reaffirmation of his coup against unity, against coexistence, against the rule of law, against the separation of powers, and against the freedom of the press.
Declaración institucional íntegra en respuesta al autócrata Pedro Sánchez.
— Santiago Abascal 🇪🇸 (@Santi_ABASCAL) April 29, 2024
📌 "Lo peor de Sánchez está por llegar"
📌 "Debemos trabajar para la resistencia y para la construcción de una alternativa urgente y viable" pic.twitter.com/6TZ0C98D9V
Updated
Pepa R. de Millán, a spokesperson for the far-right Vox, has accused Sánchez of using “like-minded journalists to publish a manifesto and label all complaints that investigate his wife’s businesses as ‘attacks.’”
Quien dedica su legislatura a tomar las instituciones del Estado no lo hace para dimitir, sino para blindarse. Por eso Sánchez se ha valido de periodistas afines para publicar un manifiesto y tachar de "ataques" todas las denuncias que investiguen los negocios de su esposa.
— Pepa R. de Millán 🇪🇸 (@Pepa_Millan) April 29, 2024
Opposition criticises Sánchez after announcement
The conservative People’s party’s Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the regional president of Madrid, has accused Pedro Sánchez of trying to undermine checks.
“Sánchez has spent years using institutions to persecute political adversaries, judges, the media and journalists, as well as their family circles. His project today is a warning to us that it he will roll over any counterweight that reminds him that there are limits. In the name of impunity,” she said.
Sánchez lleva años persiguiendo desde las instituciones al adversario político, jueces, medios y periodistas, así como a sus entornos familiares.
— Isabel Díaz Ayuso (@IdiazAyuso) April 29, 2024
Su proyecto sale hoy a avisarnos: laminará cualquier contrapeso que le recuerde donde están los límites. Por la impunidad.
Updated
Sumar’s Yolanda Díaz, who serves as Spain’s deputy prime minister, sent a message to the conservative People’s party’s Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
“Mr Feijóo, stop questioning the results that emerged legitimately from the ballot box. Mr Feijóo, respect this country. If we’ve reached a full stop, then this new phase has to be about political initiatives and measures,” she said.
🔴DIRECTO | Yolanda Díaz pide a Feijóo que "deje de cuestionar los resultados que salieron legítimamente de las urnas": "Respete este país" https://t.co/yO8TFzLYnR pic.twitter.com/eXa0M0gyH3
— elDiario.es (@eldiarioes) April 29, 2024
Updated
Here are the key lines from Pedro Sánchez’s speech this morning.
“If we don’t say, ‘Enough!’, then this degradation of public life will condemn our future as a country. It’s true that I’ve taken this step for personal reasons, but these are motives that everyone can understand and recognise because they are about the values that form the bedrock of Spain’s supportive and family-base society.”
“It is thanks to this social mobilisation that has so decisively influenced my reflections – and of which I am once again grateful – that I want to let you know what I’ve decided. As I told the head of state this very morning, I have decided to stay on as Spain’s prime minister and to stay on with even more strength than before – if that’s possible.”
“I think our country needs to embark on that collective reflection. But I actually think we’ve already begun to do that over the past five days. It’s a collective reflection that will lead to a cleaning, a regeneration, to a sense of fair play. For too long, we’ve allowed mud to colonise political and public life with impunity and to infect them with toxic actions that would have been unthinkable even a few years ago.”
“Today, I’m asking Spanish society for us once again to set an example for a convulsed and wounded world. Because the evils that afflict us are far from exclusive to Spain. They are part of a global reactionary movement that wants to impose its retrograde agenda through defamation and falsehoods, through hatred and through stirring up fears and threats that have nothing to do with science or reason.
Let’s show the world how we defend democracy. Let’s put an end to this mud in the only possible way: through a collective rejection that is calm and democratic, and which goes beyond parties and ideologies. It is something I firmly commit to leading as the prime minister of Spain.”
Iratxe García Pérez, a Spanish socialist who leads the Socialists and Democrats group in the European parliament, also welcomed Sánchez’s move to stay on.
“Good for Spain, good for Europe,” she said.
🌹Seguimos, defendiendo la democracia , defendiendo los derechos .
— Iratxe García Pérez /❤️ (@IratxeGarper) April 29, 2024
El Presidente @sanchezcastejon sigue porque merece la pena , y no lo hace solo …… detrás tiene la mayoría social del país .
Bien por España , bien por Europa
Here are the latest images from Spain.
Updated
The Socialists’ Patxi López said today’s decision shows “the insult does not win the argument”.
“Today democracy wins,” he said.
Qué gran noticia. Pedro sigue demostrando que:
— patxilopez (@patxilopez) April 29, 2024
La mentira no puede con la verdad.
El insulto no gana al argumento.
El odio de algunos discursos no se impone a la convivencia.
Los que creen que el poder es suyo no deciden por encima de la voluntad ciudadana.
Hoy gana la… pic.twitter.com/W7mDY2gc0W
Oscar Puente, Spain’s transport minister, celebrated Sánchez’s decision to stay.
Siuuuuuuuuuuu. pic.twitter.com/BlUBxDIWLz
— Oscar Puente (@oscar_puente_) April 29, 2024
Santos Cerdán León, the Socialist party’s secretary, said “we are going to continue working tirelessly.”
Vamos a seguir trabajando sin descanso. Por la regeneración de la democracia. Para seguir consolidando derechos. Para que prevalezca la política limpia.
— Santos Cerdán León (@santicl) April 29, 2024
Vamos a hacer frente a los desafíos que están por venir con más fuerza que nunca.
Salvador Illa, a former socialist health minister and candidate for regional president for the Catalan branch of the socialist party in the upcoming 12 May Catalan election, welcomed Pedro Sánchez’s decision.
“This is the best news for Catalonia,” Illa wrote. “A brave decision to recover the dignity of politics and a commitment to stop those who try to undermine our democracy,” he added.
Esta es la mejor noticia para Cataluña. Una decisión valiente para recuperar la dignidad de la política y un compromiso para frenar a quienes intentan socavar nuestra democracia. ¡Adelante, presidente!
— Salvador Illa Roca/❤️ (@salvadorilla) April 29, 2024
Sánchez to stay on as Spain's prime minister
Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s prime minister, has announced that he staying on in his role.
His decision comes days after the Spanish leader abruptly announced he was considering resigning from office, after a Madrid court said it had opened an investigation into Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez.
The investigation followed a complaint from the pressure group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), which is known to have had links in the past to Spain’s far right.
In a dramatic speech this morning, Sánchez said he decided to continue as prime minister and called for a collective reflection, as well as cleaning up what he described as toxic practices in public life.
He called on Spanish society to become an example and inspiration for the world.
“I have acted out of a clear conviction,” Sánchez said. “Either we say enough, or this degradation of public life will determine our future, condemning us as a country,” he added.
“Thanks to that social mobilisation, which has influenced my decision, I can tell you what I’ve already told our head of state: I’ve decided to stay and fight even harder as prime minister,” he said.
He also called for an end to political and media attacks, adding: “Let’s stop this mud-slinging by collectively rejecting it … I ask Spanish society to once again become an example and an inspiration to a wounded world.”
Updated
Spanish media outlets are highlighting that no one knows which path Pedro Sánchez will choose.
Pedro Sánchez is expected to speak in a few minutes. Stay tuned.
Pedro Sánchez’s big announcement will be an “institutional declaration”, which means a televised statement with no questions from the media.
He is set to speak in approximately 20 minutes.
RTVE reports that Pedro Sánchez has already communicated his decision to the king.
Spanish opposition step up Sánchez attacks as PM decides on his future
Spanish opposition parties have stepped up their attacks on the socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, as he prepares to announce whether he will resign.
Sánchez accused his political opponents – chiefly Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the conservative People’s party (PP), and Santiago Abascal, the leader of the far-right Vox party – of “collaborating with a far-right digital galaxy and with Manos Limpias”.
Ppposition parties have accused Sánchez of cynical manoeuvring, melodrama and self-obsession.
“We citizens shouldn’t be the ones focusing on Sánchez’s navel; Sánchez should be focusing on the citizens,” Feijóo said on Saturday. “Mr Sánchez, the question isn’t whether being prime minister of Spain is worth it or not. The question is whether or not Spain deserves a prime minister like you.”
Vox said the fact that Sánchez still had not resigned was “a democratic anomaly”, and that “Europe is asking itself how Sánchez can carry on being prime minister when his wife faces such serious allegations”.
Thousands of people gathered over the weekend to show their support for Pedro Sánchez and urge him to stay on as prime minister.
Ahead of today’s announcement, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the conservative People’s party (PP), criticised Spain’s socialist party for being focused on the future of its leadership and accused Pedro Sánchez of undermining democracy.
El que tiene un problema es Sánchez.
— Alberto Núñez Feijóo (@NunezFeijoo) April 27, 2024
Cuando ataca a los jueces y a los periodistas el Gobierno dimite de la democracia. pic.twitter.com/S9X8MypyoX
What’s next?
Now, there would appear to be three possible scenarios.
Pedro Sánchez could stay and call a vote of no confidence in an effort to shore up his parliamentary support.
If he leaves, the socialists could try to appoint a successor.
Or, his departure could trigger another general election - Spain’s sixth in nine years - that could be held in July.
Sánchez’s public letter last week – which he is understood to have written himself and without consulting his advisers – has been described by his allies as a deeply personal measure of last resort from a man sick of the attacks on his wife, which have escalated over recent years.
“Now that we’ve reached this point, the question I quite legitimately ask myself is: is it all worth it? I sincerely don’t know,” the prime minister wrote in his letter. “I need to stop and think about it.”
Sánchez insisted on his wife’s innocence and openly accused the conservative People’s party (PP) and the far-right Vox party of colluding with Manos Limpias and hostile sections of the media in an attempt to bring about his “personal and political collapse” by attacking his wife.
Carta a la ciudadanía. pic.twitter.com/c2nFxTXQTK
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) April 24, 2024
Why is Spain’s prime minister considering resigning from office?
On Wednesday night, Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, abruptly announced he was cancelling his public duties for the rest of the week and considering resigning from office.
He is expected to announce his decision today at approximately 11am CET.
What prompted the shock announcement?
Although Spanish politics has become increasingly polarised, personal and bitter over recent years, Sánchez said he had felt compelled to consider his position after what he called a baseless “harassment and bullying operation” conducted against him and his wife by political opponents and hostile sections of the rightwing and far-right media.
The announcement came hours after a Madrid court said it had opened an investigation into Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, “for the alleged offence of influence peddling and corruption”. The investigation followed a complaint from the pressure group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands).
Welcome to the blog
Good morning and welcome back to the Europe blog.
Today we will be looking at the latest in Spain, where the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is expected to make an announcement today about his future.
Will he stay or will he go? Sánchez’s decision is being closely watched both in Spain and around Europe.
