There are so many pending court cases against allies of Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s Socialist prime minister, that a newspaper story on New Year’s Eve forecast that 2026 would be his “judicial Calvary”. They include half a dozen investigations into allegations of corruption against his closest political allies. In addition, the country’s constitutional court is likely to hear an appeal against the Supreme Court’s conviction and dismissal of Álvaro García Ortiz, the former prosecutor-general, for leaking the tax problems of the romantic partner of the head of the Madrid regional government. And judges have charged Mr Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, and his brother with conflicts of interest (both say they are innocent).
The prime minister and his allies consider this a campaign of judicial harassment aimed at overthrowing the government.
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The wider problem for Spain’s democracy is that the judiciary has become a political football. Some Spaniards think judges have always been influenced by politics, and it has merely become more explicit.
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Nobody seriously questions … judicial investigations into corruption. “It’s not true that the judiciary is [biased] against the government,” says Elisa de la Nuez, a campaigner for the rule of law. But the pushback is worrying, she adds. “For the first time judges feel threatened by political power.” In the long term, that is in nobody’s interest. It is up to politicians to take the first step, by ceasing to seek to judicialise politics. But given how polarised Spain has become, that may be too much to ask.