MADRID – Spain’s conservative opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo said on Tuesday that his party will soon begin testing whether Sánchez’s allies might back a no-confidence vote against the prime minister. 

Feijóo’s move comes a day after a judge ordered the preventive imprisonment of Santos Cerdán, Sánchez’s PSOE’s number two, citing flight risk, in connection with a major corruption scandal that has rocked the Socialist party for the past two weeks.

“His number two has slept in prison, but Sánchez intends to continue. It is unsustainable”, Feijóo said on X.

Feijóo has also tasked the People’s Party’s (PP)’s parliamentary spokeperson, Miguel Tellado, with contacting the groups propping up Sánchez’s government to ask whether they still stand behind him.

“Right now they are the only obstacle for Spaniards to speak, and we can repair so much decadence,” he added. 

Government spokesperson Pilar Alegría ruled out PSOE’s involvement in the Supreme Court ruling that jailed Cerdán, saying: “There are no indications to that effect,” El País reported.

Exploiting Puigdemont’s discontent
Sánchez governs with a precarious majority through a coalition between the PSOE and the left-wing platform Sumar, backed in turn by a patchwork of nationalist and separatist parties.

These include the Catalan separatist JxCat, led by former regional president Carles Puigdemont, and their left-wing rivals ERC, as well as the Basque nationalist PNV and the radical left-wing EH Bildu – which many on the right consider the political heir of ETA.

Among the promises Sánchez made to JxCat in exchange for their votes, and which Santos Cerdán himself negotiated in Switzerland, is a controversial amnesty law for those implicated in the serious secessionist attempt of October 2017 in Catalonia, including Puigdemont, currently in self-exile in Waterloo, near Brussels. 

On several occasions, the former Catalan president has stated that the agreement between the PSOE and JxCat – negotiated by Cerdán himself – was not being respected, adding Sánchez “cannot be trusted.”

Left wants full accountability

The backlash hasn’t come only from the right. PSOE’s ally Sumar, and the broader Spanish left, including radical party Podemos, have demanded “exemplary” measures in response to the scandal.

“Seeing Cerdán go to jail is a disgrace. The situation is very serious. We have to act now,” said Labour Minister and former Sumar leader Yolanda Díaz on Tuesday.

In response to the escalating crisis, Díaz announced that Vice-President María Jesús Montero (PSOE), and Culture Minister and Sumar spokesman Ernest Urtasun will meet in parliament on Wednesday.

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