The Spanish right-wing opposition calls for the resignation of the Prime Minister due to corruption

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Spain’s conservative party called for the resignation of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Sunday, saying it will file a legal complaint against his socialist party following new corruption allegations against an associate.

The lawsuit follows media reports of a police investigation that put Sánchez’s longtime confidante and former minister José Luis Abalos at the heart of a corruption scandal over the purchase of face masks during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We demand the resignation of Pedro Sánchez, he cannot stay at the head of the Spanish government for one more minute,” said the general secretary of the right-wing PP (PP), Cuca Gamarra, in a press conference.

“The details that are being revealed” show “systemic corruption headed by Pedro Sánchez,” Gamarra said.

On Monday, “the Popular Party will denounce the Socialist Party on suspicion of illegal financing, corruption and influence peddling, so that an investigation into this unprecedented scandal can be carried out to the end,” he said.

Ábalos, a close ally of Sánchez for years, was ousted from the Socialist Party after he refused to resign when allegations of corruption emerged in February.

He has not yet been charged with any crime.

Gamarra also pointed to allegations against Sánchez’s wife, Begona Gómez, who allegedly used her husband’s position as leverage within his professional circles while teaching a master’s degree at a university in Madrid.

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