“We are going to play all the cards.” Government President Pedro Sánchez aims to secure support from coalition partners for the remainder of the legislature, despite the addition of corruption investigations and sexual harassment complaints against socialist leaders. The Executive plans to present the budget in February 2026 and Sánchez believes that “complying with the agenda of the Junts can open a window with them”, as he explained in an informal interview with journalists in Moncloa. During this intervention, he announced that the next government spokesperson to replace Pilar Alegría – PSOE candidate in Aragon – would be a woman, but he did not give any names.
Sánchez stepped on the accelerator to try to fulfill outstanding commitments with Junts after Carles Puigdemont decided to break with the government. In response to a set of initiatives approved last week, the president showed a willingness to move in this direction to try to woo Junts.
Thus, he reiterated his desire to publish the budget balances with a “methodology agreed with Junts”. He also announced that they would request in the coming days that Catalonia and the Basque Country be associate members of UNESCO and the World Tourism Organization. The president assured that he had “the absolute desire to reach and respect the agreements marked
He also assured that he had “no problem” in meeting the different parliamentary groups, as the ERC has already requested, while recognizing that relations with Puigdemont were “broken”.
Sánchez considered that the government has “contrasted” its capacity in “multiple crises”, asked about the cases of harassment within the PSOE or the actions against José Luis Ábalos, Santos Cerdán or the former socialist activist Leire Díez. The head of the Executive assures that, despite everything, he is “in very good shape” and “wants to continue” at Moncloa. He believes he has “a point of maturity to see things from another angle” without however reducing “the seriousness” of the cases which have emerged in recent weeks. “I feel pain and disappointment,” he admitted, while insisting on his obligation to “act” against those who committed alleged irregularities. However, Sánchez reaffirms that he is experiencing a “moment of political solidity” which, according to him, “contrasts” with what the opposition parties are experiencing.
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