Pedro Sanchez needs time to think

Spanish politics are usually the last thing on an expat’s mind but even the apolitical can’t avoid them when they reach the international media.

That’s what happened when Pedro Sanchez, president – not of Spain, but the Spanish government – announced on April 24 on X (formerly Twitter) that he would spend the next five days deciding whether or not to resign.

This hit the headlines worldwide, not least because if Sanchez does reach tipping point and throws in the towel, it will be because of the attacks on his wife, Begoña Gomez.

“I am deeply in love with my wife,” the president wrote, adding that he needed to ask himself “if it was all worth it.”

The ultra-right group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands) spends much time and energy in filing complaints against left-wing politicians which usually come to nothing.  Now it has Begoña Gomez in its sights, accusing her of influence-peddling and corruption.

“As is only logical, Begoña will defend her honour and cooperate with the justice system as much as is necessary,” Sanchez wrote.

The facts, he added, “appeared to be scandalous” but were “non-existent.”

Politics have become increasingly personal everywhere and it’s no longer enough to base opposition on ideology alone. Sanchez’s political opponents should be able to find enough ammunition in his political record, without turning on his wife.

It’s standard practice to dig down deep and drag out anything that can be used to sling mud in today’s politics.  If there’s nothing to be found, some are not above invention or misrepresentation and this is why Sanchez has decided to think seriously about his future in politics.

According to El Mundo, and not pro-Sanchez El Pais, he wrote the long X message himself, telling no-one, not even close collaborators like ministers Maria Jesus Montero and Felix Bolaños.

Bolaños learnt only “minutes”  before Sanchez posted the news of his soul-searching ultimatum on X and Montero said she had no idea until it was published.

“This is a process or reflection and has to be respected,” Bolaños told El Mundo. “It will be a personal decision taken with the family, with his wife. And I don’t know what he will decide.”

There was less empathy and sympathy from the Partido Popular (PP) opposition party which accused the president of playing the victim,

Sanchez needed to provide explanations and not absent himself until April 29 while the country ground to a halt, PP spokesman Borja Semper said.

The president can expect short shrift from the PP headed by Alberto Nuñez Feijoo and less still from Vox leder Santiago Abascal, both of whom he accused of “collaborating with a far-right digital galaxy and with Manos Limpias.”

Meanwhile, Manos Limpias admitted on the morning of April 25 that there was “a possibility” that the official complaint lodged against Begoña Gomez “could be based on  false information.”