After a five-day think, Spain’s PM decides to stick around

After taking five days off to think about it, Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s prime minister, has said he won’t resign. In a four-page letter posted on X last week, Sánchez mused “Is this all worth it?”, after a Madrid judge opened a preliminary corruption investigation into his wife, Begoña Gómez. That followed a criminal complaint filed by a group called Manos Limpias – “Clean Hands” – which has links to the far-right. It alleges that Gómez used her government connections to further her private business interests. The evidence submitted included a story about a Begoña Gómez who was “secretly getting government funding” – a story later withdrawn when it was revealed that it was about a different Begoña Gómez. Manos Limpias has since acknowledged the allegations could be false but the investigation continues and many see Sánchez’s unusual mini-sabbatical as a plea for sympathy to firm up his rule over an awkward, fractured coalition that includes two Catalan separatist parties. Others see it as a show of weakness.