Spain's PM feels 'good and strong' amid right-wing corruption scandal

Corruption charges engulfing a former titan of the Spanish right have handed Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez rare breathing space during a graft probe that has imperilled his government.

"I feel good and I feel strong," the Spanish Prime Minister assured journalists at an informal chat which was part of his seventh tour of Latin America, adding that his "batteries are fully charged" as he reaches the middle of his second tenure.

Sánchez has been reeling from an investigation into two former Socialist heavyweights who helped propel him to power in 2018, a scandal that has rocked his minority left-wing coalition and intensified speculation of its collapse and early elections.

The main opposition Popular Party (PP) has pounced on the affair as well as separate probes into Sánchez's wife and brother to make the fight against alleged Socialist corruption its rallying cry.

So the case against Cristobal Montoro, a finance minister from 2000 to 2004 and 2011 to 2018 under former PP premiers José María Aznar and Mariano Rajoy, dealt a blow to the conservative party's narrative.

Last week, a judge lifted the confidentiality placed on the proceedings of an investigation launched in 2018 and charged Montoro with bribery, fraud and abuse of office.

He is accused of weaving a "network of influence" during his time in office to promote laws benefiting certain companies in exchange for payments to consultancies he had founded.

According to the indictment seen by AFP, two companies linked to Montoro were used as a "way of channelling and distributing the payment of commissions", allegedly making €48 million ($57 million).

The cash came from a wide range of companies, including the construction, electricity, gas, renewable energy and gambling sectors.

Montoro is also alleged to have used the state tax agency to enrich allies and intimidated those who posed a potential hindrance, such as journalists or the president of Spain's top football league.

The case is "a breath of fresh air" for Sánchez and "takes away the argument of authority" from the PP, political scientist Cristina Monge told AFP.

Confidence undermined

Sánchez ousted Rajoy in 2018 after the PP was convicted in its own corruption affair, and the Socialist leader has gone on the offensive over the Montoro allegations.

Rajoy's tenure from 2011 to 2018, loathed by the left for overseeing harsh austerity measures after the global financial crisis, legislated "for individual interests linked to business elites, against the general interest", Sánchez said this week.

PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo has been unusually quiet since the outbreak of the latest corruption-related storm to batter Spanish politics, saying he supported the ongoing investigation.

But PP parliamentary spokeswoman Ester Muñoz dismissed the idea of "a draw" between Spain's two main parties in corruption cases, contrasting Montoro's past alleged wrongdoing with the current probe targeting the Socialists.

For Spain, the constant perception of corruption is dangerous because it "takes its toll on confidence" in the political system and fosters apathy, Monge warned.

Far-right party Vox, the third-largest force in parliament, which is climbing in the polls, "is capitalising on the discontent, the anger", Monge added.

With additional reporting by The Local Spain's editor Alex Dunham.

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