Feijóo urges snap election and 'national reconstruction' as corruption cases swell around Sánchez
Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused Pedro Sánchez's government of enabling a 'degradation' of politics, invoking the prime minister's own past anti-corruption rhetoric to demand a ballot.
Feijóo’s call for ‘national reconstruction’
Addressing the Círculo de Empresarios de Galicia in Vigo on Friday, PP president Alberto Núñez Feijóo declared that Spain urgently needs a ‘national reconstruction’ to restore decency to politics. He lamented that public life had become nothing more than ‘court chronicles’ and insisted the country must return to solving concrete problems rather than managing scandals.
Spain urgently needs a national reconstruction that makes politics compatible again with decency, the people’s demands and the reformist agenda our country requires.
The weight of past words
Feijóo structured his argument around remarks Pedro Sánchez made during the 2018 no-confidence motion that ousted Mariano Rajoy. He recited Sánchez’s earlier declarations that corruption ‘acts as a dissolving and deeply harmful agent for any country’ and destroys faith in institutions.
What more has to happen? Is our country doomed to hang on court rulings about to drop? Are you going to resign or cling to office, weakening democracy?
The PP leader said the ethical threshold Sánchez himself set now compels him to ‘return the voice to the Spaniards.’
Corruption probes widen
Feijóo spoke hours after judge José Luis Calama opened a separate investigation into former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for alleged tax and smuggling offences. The inquiry centres on jewellery seized from Zapatero’s office safe, valued at €1.3 million, after his spokesperson had earlier estimated the items at between €30,000 and €50,000. The same day, the PP announced it would urgently summon interior minister Fernando Grande‑Marlaska and attorney general Teresa Peramato before the Senate’s Justice and Koldo case committee.
Economic pledges and reforms
Beyond the corruption critique, Feijóo presented ten economic reform commitments should he become prime minister. He promised tax cuts, annual budget presentations, governing through parliament rather than decree, and respect for the independence of courts and the media. He noted that public debt had climbed 42% since Sánchez took office, from €1.2 trillion to €1.7 trillion, and argued the growth model was unhealthy.
A bid for trust
Feijóo framed his pitch as a request to renew the confidence he earned over nearly 14 years governing Galicia. He said those currently in government have ‘squandered trust in every imaginable way’ and do not deserve to remain. He listed what he called the most basic pledges: being a decent person, presenting budgets on time, and not surrounding himself with corrupt individuals.
I never imagined that to ask Spaniards for their trust I would have to promise the most basic things.
The speech, delivered on home turf in Galicia, sharpened the PP’s pre‑election message as multiple corruption investigations continue to weigh on the ruling Socialists.
