Sunny Spain is in the midst of a revolution. Tens of thousands of people gathered in the Plaza de España in capital Madrid to protest against socialist Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez. Their demands - Sánchez’s resignation and an early general election.
What’s gotten the Spanish people all riled up?
Sunday’s protest was called by the opposition - the conservative Partido Popular or People’s Party - under the slogan “mafia or democracy”. This after PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused the government of "mafia practices" over a leaked audio recording. The clip allegedly showed political activist Leire Díez waging a smear campaign against a police unit.
At the time, Díez was a member of Sánchez’s Partido Socialista Obrero Español or Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE).
For context - the Guardia Civil police unit, for the past year, has been investigating allegations including that of graft, influence peddling and other offences against the Prime Minister’s wife, Begoña Gómez, his brother, David Sánchez, and former transport minister and right-hand man - José Luis Ábalos.
Díez has predictably denied the allegations, insisting that she was conducting research for a book and was not working on behalf of Sánchez or PSOE. FYI - she has since quit the party.
At the protests, Feijóo called on Sánchez to “stop hiding”, declaring that “Spain already knows too much” about what he and his inner circle have done.
Furthermore, Feijóo called on Sánchez “to surrender to democracy and call elections”.
Sánchez, meanwhile, has dismissed the investigations against members of his inner circle as part of a right-wing "smear campaign" designed to bring about his “personal and political collapse”.
The investigations stem from a complaint filed by anti-graft campaign group - Manos Limpias or Clean Hands, whose leader has links to the far-right. The group uses a unique Spanish legal instrument known as “acusación popular” or the "people's accusation" to bring criminal complaints against third parties, even if they are not directly affected by the crime.
The PP though is not without fault. In what could be a case of the ‘pot calling the kettle black’, the PP itself is under tremendous scrutiny.
The PP themselves were ousted from government after being found guilty in Spain’s largest-ever corruption probe.
When it comes to Spain, today’s accuser could very well be tomorrow’s accused. With the country’s major political parties spending more time accusing each other of corruption than debating policy - it is a game in which everyone loses.
"Viva la revolución!"
