Murcia assembly declares Pedro Sánchez persona non grata with PP and Vox votes

A declaration with no legal force

The Murcia Regional Assembly approved on Tuesday, 3 November, a motion declaring Pedro Sánchez, the president of the Spanish government, persona non grata in the Region of Murcia. The text was brought by the Grupo Mixto deputies José Ángel Antelo and Virginia Martínez, both of whom left Vox. ABC describes the measure as non-binding, while eldiario.es says it has political implications but no legal ones and no practical effect unless another measure accompanies it. According to La Razón, the vote is the first time a regional parliament has declared a Spanish prime minister persona non grata. eldiario.es adds that no motion of this kind had previously passed in a regional assembly, although some municipalities had approved similar declarations.

Virginia Martínez's case against Sánchez

Virginia Martínez defended the initiative from the rostrum, accusing the prime minister of damaging Murcia's interests on regional financing, infrastructure, the Tajo-Segura water transfer and management of the Mar Menor. ABC reports that she listed five areas of alleged failure in total, including migration policy, the independence of the judiciary and climate policy. La Razón reports that she went back to Sánchez's 2018 motion of no confidence against Mariano Rajoy and cited corruption cases touching his circle, including the case involving Begoña Gómez. She told the chamber that Sánchez posed a threat on several fronts.

“Pedro Sánchez is a danger to our democracy, a danger to our security and a danger to our economy.”

Martínez also blamed Sánchez for the deaths in the Adamuz and Urda train accidents, arguing that he had appointed ministers who were of no use. According to eldiario.es, only Antelo applauded after her speech. She framed the motion as a response to public dissatisfaction with the central government's management of the region.

Positions of the PP and Vox

The PP backed the motion but played down its tone. Víctor Manuel Martínez Carrasco acknowledged that the motion was subjective and argued that declaring someone persona non grata does not require the president to leave the country. He told eldiario.es that the PP was giving its view ahead of what it calls the 29N elections.

“The motion is limited to letting him know that he is not welcome.”

Vox's Antonio Martínez Nieto supported the motion and called it only a moral reproach. He accused Sánchez of harming the region on water, agriculture and infrastructure, and according to La Razón he also cited the recent migration crisis in Ceuta and the corruption cases around the prime minister. ABC reports that the seven Vox deputies in the chamber voted for the motion alongside the PP.

Socialist opposition and the amendment

Carmina Fernández, the PSOE spokesperson, opposed the motion. She accused the PP of using the regional assembly for a political campaign against the Spanish government and of diverting attention from the region's problems. The Socialists filed an amendment to the whole, which did not pass. eldiario.es reports that the PSOE had lodged an appeal with the chamber's Mesa in summer 2026 to try to halt the initiative, and that the Socialists accused the two former Vox deputies of doing the PP's dirty work for the regional leadership. ABC quotes Fernández asking how far the PP was willing to go to attack the head of the government.