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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Wednesday he would suspend public duties and contemplate resigning from government, citing months of right-wing attacks on his family.
“I need time to reflect,” Sánchez wrote in a four-page letter posted on his X account. “I urgently need to answer a question that I keep asking myself: Is it worth it for me to remain [in office] in spite of the right and far-right’s mudslinging?”
Sánchez’s shock announcement came hours after Spanish media reported that a Madrid judge had launched a preliminary investigation into whether the prime minister’s wife, Begoña Gómez, had used her government connections to further her private business interests.
The corruption and influence peddling probe, which is being conducted under seal, was initiated following the filing of a lawsuit by Manos Limpias, or “Clean Hands,” a platform with links to ultranationalist groups notorious for filing legal complaints linked to far-right causes.
“Should I continue to lead this government or renounce this highest of honors?” Sánchez wrote. “Despite the right-wing’s caricature of my person, I am not attached to this post … My commitment is to my sense of duty and public service.”
Sánchez concluded his missive announcing that he will address the nation Monday and reveal whether or not he will resign.
The Spanish prime minister’s letter comes at a moment when two major elections are on the horizon. On May 12 a snap regional vote is set to take place in Catalonia, and one month later Spaniards will take part in the bloc-wide European election.
Sánchez has been in office since 2018 and was most recently reelected last year, when he was able to cobble together parliamentary backing for a minority government formed by his Socialist Party and the left-wing Sumar coalition.
