Spain’s Sanchez defends party financing as opposition grills him over corruption scandals
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday insisted that his Socialist Party’s financing is fully transparent and legal as he appeared before a Senate inquiry investigating corruption allegations that have sparked political turmoil and intensified calls for his resignation.
Sanchez faced questioning from opposition lawmakers over claims that senior Socialist officials accepted kickbacks in exchange for awarding public contracts. The probe also includes parallel investigations involving the prime minister’s wife and brother, adding to political pressure on his government, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
“The Socialist Party is a party with absolutely clean financing,” Sanchez told senators, defending the use of cash transactions for certain party expenses, saying they were always backed by receipts. He acknowledged that he may have personally received cash reimbursements “on some occasions,” but stressed they never exceeded €1,000, the legal limit in Spain.
The Senate, controlled by the conservative People’s Party (PP), has repeatedly demanded Sánchez resign and call snap elections, accusing his minority left-wing government of widespread corruption. During a tense exchange with a senator from the far-right Vox party, Sánchez described the inquiry as a “circus,” while reaffirming his commitment to recently announced anti-corruption reforms.
“Zero corruption doesn’t exist, but zero tolerance does,” he said.
Sánchez is only the second sitting Spanish prime minister to testify before the Senate. The scandal intensified after the arrest of Santos Cerdan, a former top Socialist official, and the implication of former Transport Minister José Luis Abalos in an alleged scheme to obtain kickbacks from pandemic-era mask procurement contracts. Both deny wrongdoing, and Sánchez has said he had no prior knowledge of any illegal activity.
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