Prostitutes, a porn star and a bouncer - Spanish PM Sanchez embroiled in corruption scandal
Now his Socialist party (PSOE) is engulfed in a corruption scandal involving prostitutes, public contracts, kickbacks, secret recordings, a former nightclub bouncer and a porn star.
His wife faces a separate investigation into allegations of influence-peddling, and there are claims that party officials created a job especially for his musician brother David.
Mr Sánchez's enemies call him the 'dog' because they say he is impossible to get rid of, but the graft scandal is now threatening to finally bring him down.
Europe's most influential Left-wing leader is well aware of the risks, and the irony, of his invidious position.
Mr Sánchez ousted his scandal-hit conservative predecessor, Mariano Rajoy, by winning a vote of no confidence against him in 2018.
Spain's National Court had ruled that Mr Rajoy's Partido Popular (PP) was guilty of 'institutional corruption'.
Mr Sánchez promised a new era of 'democratic regeneration' as he cobbled together a coalition of communists, separatists and former terrorist organisation Eta's political wing to grab power.
His grip on Spain's government has not slipped in the years since, despite the recent massive blackouts, deadly floods in Valencia, or the allegations about his family.
His taste for woke politics has enraged the Spanish Right and he has clashed with Donald Trump and refused to commit to a new Nato defence spending target.
Such controversies bounce off the bulletproof prime minister thanks to the deeply polarised world of Spanish politics.
None of the rag-tag bunch of Leftists propping up his government want to be the one to break ranks for fear of handing power to a coalition of the PP and the far-Right Vox.
But the pressure is building on the handsome Madrileño after weeks in which his Socialist party has been roiled by seedy revelation after grubby exposé.
It is the involvement of sex workers and porn stars that has particularly appalled his woke allies, who so far, have stopped short of collapsing the government.
But Yolanda Díaz, the deputy prime minister and leader of far-Left Sumar, and her ministers pointedly left their front-bench seats in Congress empty when Mr Sanchez fought for his political life, trading blows with opposition leaders on Wednesday.
It was a sign that the pressure was beginning to tell after months of the spotlight shining on PSOE party cadres and some of Mr Sánchez's closest comrades.
Santos Cerdán, a long-time close ally of Mr Sánchez resigned as party secretary last week.
A police report revealed his alleged involvement in charging companies for accessing public works contracts in his home region of Navarre and elsewhere.
Mr Sánchez was humiliatingly forced to apologise for being 'mistaken' about Mr Cerdán.
He had backed him, despite a flurry of rumours after criminal investigations were opened last year into his Navarran associate, Koldo García.
Mr Garcia is a former nightclub bouncer and chauffeur who worked his way up the Socialist party ladder and became a key aide to José Luis Ábalos.
Mr Ábalos, along with Mr Cerdán, backed Mr Sánchez from party outsider to winner in two primary processes a decade ago, playing a key role in his ascent to power.
He is suspected by a supreme court judge of helping himself to hundreds of thousands of euros in kickbacks from companies during his spell as transport and infrastructure minister between 2018 and 2021.
Ábalos was also Socialist party secretary until Mr Sánchez dropped him from the post and the cabinet in 2021.
The prime minister insisted on Wednesday that the Cerdán crisis was a mere 'anecdote'.
But secret recordings underpinning the investigation make painful listening because of his old comrades discussing and comparing the merits of sex workers.
Mr Sánchez made the fight against sexism in macho Spain a touchstone of his government, and the tapes are a major embarrassment for a politician with a sweeping feminist agenda.
'This disgusts us. The sexist terms expressed are absolutely incompatible with the feminist values of this party,' Mr Sánchez said.
A source close to the government told The Telegraph that Mr Sánchez's decision to suddenly drop Mr Ábalos before the corruption probes began was 'due to his proclivity for prostitutes'.
One morning in early June, Mr Ábalos's home in Valencia was searched by police.
They found the former minister in the company of a woman named only as Anaís, a 32-year-old model.
She was later revealed by the newspaper El Mundo to be a porn star using the name Letizia Hilton.
According to reports, Mr Ábalos made a failed attempt to sneak a hard drive out of the house under the noses of police investigators by hiding it in his female companion's pocket when officers allowed her out to walk the dog.
Police investigation
Mr García, commonly referred to by all as simply 'Koldo', is reported to have recorded and filed all of his conversations over more than a decade of running errands for top Socialists.
Police are examining the contents of four memory sticks full of recordings and have reportedly recovered others he attempted to erase but which were recovered from the cloud.
In one, he says: 'I'm fed up. They treat me like a stupid small-town boy: I'm very coarse, I'm capable of breaking a guy's legs just because they ask me to (…) But with time, you learn.'
Who has recorded whom saying what has become key in the case, and there is paranoia among Socialist ranks as to what files kept by Mr Ábalos and his sidekick Mr García could contain.
Sources with access to the police investigation have told The Telegraph that police reports are being compiled on at least one other minister over their Ábalos connection.
Mr Sánchez has insisted that the Socialist party is not corrupt and has ordered a fresh external audit of the party's finances.
A PP source told The Telegraph that leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo is now sure that 'it is just a matter of time' before Mr Sánchez falls.
That will depend on the next batch of leaked recordings and whether a strong connection can be built by investigators between Mr Cerdán's side deals and party financing.
Mr Sanchez's rivals are hoping to do to what he did to Mariano Rajoy seven years ago.
Mr Feijóo accused Mr Sánchez of being 'deeply ensnared in a corruption scheme' during their fiery clash in the Spanish parliament.
'No matter how much you disguise yourself, you are not the victim. We Spaniards are the victim,' Mr Feijóo told Mr Sánchez, before mocking his refusal to call early elections 'because you know you will lose'.
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Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
I paid £3,000 to be on the cruise from hell: I had to hide my children from drunken yobs and it was the first time in 30 sea trips that I've got off early
A mother-of-two says she was forced to hide in her room with her children on a horror cruise filled with drunken louts. Lauren Musselwhite, 42, from Portsmouth, paid £3,000 for the two-week voyage around the Spanish coast on the MSC Cruises Virtuosa on July 12 with her children George, 17 and Freddie, 14. But the teacher, who has been on 30 previous cruises and said she had loved them all, claims she was forced to cut short 'the most appalling holiday'. The family disembarked in Valencia, five days before the end of the trip, after experiencing constant waves of rowdy drunk youths, persistent swearing and yobbish behaviour. She claims they did not like the food and children were left largely relying on crepes for over a week, while there was vomit, black soot and what appeared to be mucus in the swimming pools. The experienced cruiser said she had to make her way through hordes of topless revellers on her way to dinner - before sheltering in her cabin immediately after to avoid further carnage. It was the same trip where another family, Iain and Sally Wright, alongside their two children and Mrs Wright's mother, said they had to take refuge in their cabin after the 'family-friendly' cruise was ruined by inebriated travellers who turned the ship into a 'club'. But while the family from Sunderland endured the entire voyage, which also included stops in Galicia, Seville, Granada, Alicante, Barcelona and Valencia, Ms Musselwhite said she was left with no choice but to disembark early, despite having to shell out a further £400 to return luggage to the UK. She told the Daily Mail: 'It all just went wrong from night one, to be honest. 'There was a load of drunk people everywhere on the stairs up to dinner. I thought I'm not having this. 'There were people arguing, there were people swearing. When you went to get some food in the buffet there were people with no clothes on, on FaceTime on their phone swearing. 'Nobody was there enforcing any kind of basic rules or manners that you would expect from a cruise. 'The restaurant manager said if people were aggressive or fighting, then we can call security, but not if they're just drunk and having a good time. 'As soon as we'd had our food from the buffet in the evening we went back to the room and we stayed in our room all night. 'I said look I can't deal with this for two weeks. 'I don't wan to say the ship was like Butlins. Because I genuinely feel that was probably an insult to Butlins.' MSC Cruises said they were 'reviewing the issues' that Ms Musselwhite experienced and they 'remain committed to maintaining high standards.' Meanwhile, the Wright family said they tried to leave the cruise halfway through when in Majorca after they hid in their rooms to avoid the 'horrible' atmosphere of constant swearing, which Mr Wright, 41, an author, claimed was 'worse than a Wetherspoons'. One intoxicated guest even threw up next to the family's table while they were playing Scrabble. Mr Wright claims it took an hour for staff to clean up the 'smelly mess'. While eight-year-old Molly suffered an allergic reaction after swimming in a pool covered in black soot. Ms Musselwhite said she also saw vomit and mucus in the pools, which stopped the family from going swimming. 'There was sick down by the side of one of the pools we were at,' she said. 'In another there was a whole manner of things floating in that pool. It looked like green, like snot, clumps of it though. 'These things were not being cleaned up straight away. It was just grim if I'm honest. 'Anyway, we didn't really use the pools after that.' Soot had rained from one of the ships funnels, spraying guests, while Molly 'suffered with itching for 24 hours' and had to go see a doctor. 'We were told it 'happens sometimes when we pull away from a port' by staff, Mr Wright said. Ms Musselwhite added: 'I saw another family who got covered in. I saw people at reception complaining because they were covered in this black stuff, but fortunately we weren't.' The teacher said she had unsuccesfully asked to pay for an upgrade while on the trip, and also knew of other families who left early. A spokesperson for MSC Cruises said: 'We are sorry to hear about Ms Musselwhite's experience during her recent sailing. 'We take all feedback seriously and are currently reviewing the issues that have been brought to our attention. We remain committed to maintaining high standards across all areas of our guest experience and will be looking into the matter further to ensure appropriate follow-up where necessary.' The same cruise ship saw a 60-year-old 'killed' on a 'stag do' after a major brawl broke out just two hours after it left Southampton for Belgium in May. The cruise ship was still in British waters when a brawl described as being like something from the 'Wild West' took place on board. James Messham described as a 'proper gent' and a 'salt of the earth' gentleman who would help 'anyone day or night', died following the altercation. Two men were later arrested in connection with the death. It later emerged that the Traitors' winner Harry Clark and his girlfriend were among the passengers enjoying the two-night cruise. He was said to be 'very shocked and saddened' by the incident and was 'thinking of the individual's family and friends'. In the hours before, high-spirited crowds filled the mega ship - with music blaring from the speakers and football playing from a large poolside screen. Eerie footage taken by a mother onboard the cruise shows oblivious crowds dancing away to 'Hey Baby' by DJ Ötzi with drinks in hand, while others sunbathe on loungers or go for a dip in the pool. One passenger described scenes of drunken brawls erupting almost immediately after boarding the two-night return voyage - claiming the cruise was 'full of stag and hen dos'.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Daily Mail
Spanish minister sparks anti-Semitism row with France after labelling dozens of French Jewish children 'Israeli brats' after they were kicked off flight in Valencia for 'unruly behaviour'
A Spanish minister has sparked an anti-Semitism row with France after labelling dozens of French Jewish children ' Israeli brats' after they were expelled from a jet in Spain for 'unruly behaviour'. French government ministers Aurore Bergé and Benjamin Haddad have condemned Spain's transport minister Óscar Puente for his comments, as well as the actions of the Spanish police who handcuffed the group leader of the Jewish passengers. Some 44 French-Jewish students aged between 10 and 15 and several adults were escorted off Vueling flight V8166 as it waited on the tarmac at Valencia airport on July 23 ahead of its return to Paris. The holiday camp the children were flying with accused Vueling of 'brutality' and filed a complaint against the airline, who claimed the passengers had been endangering the safety of the flight with 'disruptive behaviour'. Spanish law enforcement and the airline carrier have come under fire for alleged anti-Semitism in the wake of the incident - accusations which they have both vehemently rejected. Footage shared to social media appeared to show one adult member of the group being detained by Spanish civil guard officers in the walkway shortly after she was removed from the jet. The passengers were members of the Kineret Club, a Jewish summer camp group, and were returning to France after a week-long excursion in Spain. The two French ministers, who have reportedly spoken to the female counsellor, said she had been signed off work for 15 days because of 'temporary incapacity'. 'No act justifies the disembarkation and the excessive and brutal use of force by the Guardia Civil against the young woman,' said Bergé and Haddad. Transport minister Puente has since deleted his post describing the children as 'Israeli brats', but the French politicians condemned his statement for 'equating French children who were Jewish with Israeli citizens, as if this in any way justified the treatment they were subjected to'. 'We will never accept the trivialisation of anti-Semitism,' Bergé and Haddad added. France's foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, contacted Vueling's chief executive, Carolina Martinoli, over the weekend to express his 'deep concern' at what had happened. A statement released by the club alleged that the captain of the flight ordered the removal of the group 'without a valid explanation', adding: 'The use of a few words in Hebrew was clearly enough to trigger an extremely serious, collective, humiliating, and discriminatory measure. 'No other circumstance could explain the treatment inflicted on this group of children.' The statement, signed by the club's lawyer Julie Jacob, went on to say it would launch a formal complaint and legal action, claiming that the passengers 'were seated, respecting the rules and the staff... they did not pose any disturbance to public order or flight safety'. This triggered an outcry in Israel, with Minister of Diaspora Amichai Chikli accusing Vueling and Spanish law enforcement of antisemitism, saying the kids were removed after 'singing Hebrew songs on the plane' and accusing Vueling staff of declaring Israel a 'terrorist state', without providing evidence. One of the minors on the flight told AFP: 'One of my friends shouted a word in Hebrew because he was still a bit in holiday-camp mood.' He added: 'Perhaps he said it too loudly.' A mother whose 17-year-old son was on the flight is said to have told AFP that the she 'could not see what could have justified' the incident and claimed the children 'were disembarked like dogs'. The club says it has now filed an official complaint against the airline. It also says it denies allegations by Vueling that 'incidents were caused by the minors' and has accused the company of 'brutality. A statement released by the club read: 'The facts are clear, serious, established and corroborated by multiple testimonies. They describe a scene of rare, unjustified, and clearly biased brutality: 44 children were removed from the aircraft, without a valid explanation, on the orders of the captain. 'These children, supervised by 7 adults, had just finished a cultural stay; they were seated in their seats, respecting the rules and the staff. No incident, no threat, no inappropriate behaviour was reported. 'On the contrary, several independent passengers on the plane wrote statements confirming that the children did not pose any threat to public order or flight safety. 'In this context, the attitude of the crew and the brutality of the intervention of the Spanish law enforcement, which led to the disembarkation without accompaniment, without care, without accommodation or food, arouse legitimate indignation.' In response to the backlash, a Vueling spokesperson said the passengers were removed after the minors repeatedly tampered with the plane's emergency equipment and interrupted the crew's safety demonstration. Vueling shared a lengthy statement rejecting allegations of anti-Semitism 'A group of passengers engaged in highly disruptive behaviour and adopted a very confrontational attitude, putting at risk the safe conduct of the flight. 'We categorically deny any suggestion that our crew's behaviour was related to the religion of the passengers involved.' 'This group mishandled emergency equipment and actively disrupted the mandatory safety demonstration, repeatedly ignoring instructions from cabin crew. 'Despite multiple warnings, this inappropriate behaviour persisted, which forced the crew to activate established security protocols,' the statement read, adding that Spain's civil guard took the decision to remove the passengers after being notified by the captain. 'We categorically deny any suggestion that our crew's decision related to the religion of the passengers involved. This decision was taken solely to ensure the safety of all passengers,' it said. The airline said it had taken witness statements as part of its internal inquiry into the incident, and went on to accuse the children of 'attempting to loosen life jackets, tampering with overhead oxygen masks and removing a high-pressure oxygen cylinder', thereby violating air safety laws. A lawyer for the summer camp group told French TV that some of the children on the jet wore a kippah, and that she had no other explanation for what transpired other than the fact that they were Jewish. But Vueling has categorically denied that the crew's behaviour was a response to the passengers' religion. Spain's Civil Guard confirmed all the passengers removed from the plane were French nationals. A Civil Guard spokesperson said the agents involved in the removal operation and the arrest of one member of the party were not aware of the group's religious affiliation. It also said that the group was expelled from the flight 'without care, escort, accommodation or food'. The Civil Guard said 23 minors and two adults from the group boarded a flight belonging to another airline, while the rest spent Wednesday night at a hotel. A spokesperson said arrangements were being made for them to leave Valencia later on Thursday. The Federation for Jewish Communities of Spain today expressed concern about the incident, calling on Vueling to provide documentary evidence of what happened on the plane. 'The various accounts circulating on social media and in the media to which we have had access do not clarify the cause of the incident,' the organisation said. 'We are particularly interested in clarifying whether there were any possible religiously discriminatory motives toward the minors.'
BBC News
5 days ago
- BBC News
French ministers escalate Spain row over Jewish teens removed from flight
The removal of a French group of Jewish teenagers from a flight in Spain last week has prompted a diplomatic row, after their group leader was handcuffed by police and a Spanish minister called them "Israeli brats".French government ministers Aurore Bergé and Benjamin Haddad have given a strongly worded statement condemning Spain's transport minister Óscar Puente's remarks and the actions of teenagers and their counsellor were among the group of 44 children and eight adults who were taken off Vueling flight V8166 from Valencia to Paris on 23 July while on their way home from a summer camp. Vueling says the French group was removed from the flight because of "disruptive behaviour". The airline has said it aims "to provide a rigorous and transparent account of the facts".However, accounts of what happened before the incident differ dramatically, and have led to allegations of antisemitism, which have been vehemently rejected by both the airline and Spanish on social media showed police holding the female counsellor down on the ground in a corridor while they handcuffed two French ministers, who have both since spoken to the woman, said she had been signed off work for 15 days because of "temporary incapacity"."No act justifies the disembarkation and the excessive and brutal use of force by the Guardia Civil against the young woman," said Bergé and Óscar Puente later deleted his post describing the teenagers as "Israeli brats", the French ministers said they strongly condemned his statement for "equating French children who were Jewish with Israeli citizens, as if this in any way justified the treatment they were subjected to"."We will never accept the trivialisation of anti-Semitism," the ministers said the captain had ordered the removal of the group from the Vueling plane after they had ignored instructions from the airline has given two statements since the events unfolded a week alleged that the group had "mishandled emergency equipment and actively disrupted the mandatory safety demonstration, repeatedly ignoring instructions from cabin crew".Vueling said that as part of its internal inquiry it had taken witness statements from other passengers who had backed up its account and that of the police. It accused some of the children of adopting "confrontational behaviour"... such as "attempting to loosen life jackets, tampering with overhead oxygen masks and removing a high-pressure oxygen cylinder", violating air safety laws. An anonymous passenger gave a statement to Spain's La Sexta TV appearing to back up Vueling's statement, saying that some of the children had pulled life jackets out and pressed the crew-call other accounts have disputed the airline's version of passenger called Damien, who was at the front of the plane and not part of the young group, told Europe 1 radio that the children had been "very calm, especially for teenagers... there was one who called to his friend for two seconds but everything was perfectly fine".Karine Lamy, the mother of a teenage boy in the group, told i24 TV that "one child sang a song in Hebrew, then he began shouting and the staff on board came up to him and the group leader and warned him immediately that if he carried on singing or making a noise they'd call the police". She said the children then calmed down and five minutes later the police boarded the plane and told the leader and the whole group to to Damien, a flight attendant said during the safety demonstration that there was a security issue and that they were going to call police."There was no shouting, no violence," he insisted, adding that he had no idea whether there had been any interruption to the safety demonstration as everyone was paying attention to it at the time.A lawyer for the Club Kineret summer camp group, Murielle Ouknine-Melki, told French TV that some of the children wore a kippah (Jewish skullcap) and she had no other explanation for what happened other than that they were said it categorically denied that its crew's behaviour related to the religion of the passengers. The Guardia Civil said its officers too were not aware they were the weekend, France's foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, contacted Vueling's chief executive, Carolina Martinoli, to express his "deep concern" at what had happened.
