Will Spain's prime minister suddenly quit?

Original source (on modern site) | Article images: [1] [2]

PEDRO SÁNCHEZ knows drama. When he was clobbered at last May's regional and local elections, Spain's prime minister promptly called national ones. To bet it all at his weakest moment might have seemed crazy, yet Mr Sánchez overperformed, assembled a rickety majority and came back as prime minister.

Drama has returned with his surprise decision, on April 24th, to clear his calendar until Monday 29th when he will announce whether he plans to stay on the job. The cause of his "reflection", he said, was an attack on his wife, Begoña Gómez. A group called Manos Limpias ("Clean Hands"), founded by a former far-right political activist, has brought an influence-peddling complaint against her, and a court is making preliminary inquiries.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline "Drama king"

From the April 27th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition