Spanish Socialists Under Fire As Sexual Misconduct Allegations Shake The Party

By Inés Fernández-Pontes

(EurActiv) -- A widening scandal involving sexual harassment allegations against former senior Socialist party official Francisco Salazar has triggered a political storm reaching deep into Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s inner circle.

During a heated parliamentary session on Wednesday, opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo seized on the affair, arguing that the so-called “Salazar case” reflects “a broader pattern of behaviour” of sexual misconduct within the ruling Socialist Party.

Multiple complaints filed earlier this year by female party members were leaked to the press last week, months after Salazar resigned from his post as incoming deputy secretary in the Socialist party (PSOE)’s organisational secretariat. The case, first revealed by El Diario in July, has reignited outrage within the party and beyond.

PSOE leaders swiftly condemned Salazar, an adviser long close to Sánchez. Yet the affair has landed at a delicate moment for Prime minister Pedro Sánchez, who is already under pressure as several court cases edge closer to his entourage and family over alleged corruption.

“It was an unintentional mistake,” he said, after several women accused the leadership of having“dismissed” their formal complaints submitted through the PSOE’s internal reporting channel – an issue the party now attributes to a “computer error.”

Government spokesperson Pilar Alegría denounced Salazar’s behaviour as “disgusting” and announced an internal investigation, following Tuesday’s dismissal of Salazar’s deputy, Antonio Hernández, for allegedly covering up his superior.

In an op-ed published in El País on Sunday, prominent female Socialist leaders called for far-reaching reforms to guarantee transparent handling of harassment cases.

However, Sánchez declined calls to immediately refer the matter to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, insisting that victims themselves should decide whether to take legal action. “Appropriate measures will be taken” once the internal inquiry concludes, a PSOE spokesperson told Euractiv.

The controversy adds to a string of damaging scandals linked to sexual misconduct within the party. Earlier this year, leaked audio recordings revealed former minister José Luis Ábalos and close associate Koldo García – both implicated in a separate kickback-for-contracts investigation – boasting about hiring prostitutes and organising “private parties.”

A national poll at the time suggested the Socialists could lose around a third of their female vote as a result of these scandals – a critical demographic that proved decisive in Sánchez’s 2023 re-election. With regional elections kickstarting in December in the Extremadura region, the fallout from the Salazar affair threatens to further undermine the PSOE’s feminist credentials and electoral prospects.