Electoral board opens sanction file against Pedro Sánchez over Moncloa press conference
Spain's Junta Electoral Central has opened a sanction file against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez over his 6 October press conference at La Moncloa, ahead of the 29 November general election.
The board's decision
The Junta Electoral Central (JEC) agreed on Thursday, 15 October 2026, to open a sanction file against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez over a press conference he gave at La Moncloa on 6 October. That appearance followed a Council of Ministers meeting which approved two housing decree-laws, the same decrees that Congress had let lapse the week before. The board's view is that the appearance could have breached the Electoral Law's ban on using public resources for electoral purposes during the pre-election period. The file is at an early stage, and a sanction could follow only after the investigation concludes.
Where the complaint came from
The Partido Popular (PP) filed its complaint on the day of the press conference, saying Sánchez had used the seat of the government presidency for "a PSOE rally". The party argued he had presented supposed government achievements, attacked the opposition and sent campaign-style messages, including a call for a wider parliamentary majority. SALF also filed a complaint, according to eldiario.es. The PP asked for the video to be removed from the official Moncloa website and for the whole government to refrain from similar statements. ABC reported that the party called the decision its "first victory" of the pre-campaign period. The JEC accepted parts of the complaints rather than all of them.
What the board singled out
The board did not include the institutional statement of 5 October, when Sánchez announced the dissolution of the Cortes and early elections. The decree was not yet in force that day, so the electoral period had not started. The board does, however, criticise the broadcast of those statements on official channels once the period had begun. Among the remarks it objected to, Sánchez said the government had passed 33 laws, 43 royal decree-laws and two constitutional reforms in this legislature. He also cited pension reserve fund figures and criticised opposition groups. On housing, Sánchez said in the same appearance:
I think this government has done a great deal over the last eight years on housing.
Sanction history
Europa Press counts this as the fifth sanction file against Sánchez, with fines so far totalling 6,600 euros. The first, of 500 euros, was imposed in January 2020 for a television interview given from La Moncloa during an electoral period. In October 2023 he was fined 2,200 euros for electoral statements at a press conference in Brussels after a European Council meeting. A 2024 fine concerned using an official event to back Salvador Illa during the Catalan election campaign, though the reports do not give its amount. ABC, citing Servimedia, gives a different tally: six earlier electoral processes, four fines worth 6,600 euros and two sanctions confirmed by the Supreme Court.
- 500 euro fine for a television interview from La Moncloa during an electoral period
- 2,200 euro fine for electoral statements at a Brussels press conference after a European Council
- Fine for using an official event to back Salvador Illa during the Catalan campaign
- Sánchez announces dissolution of the Cortes and early elections
- Press conference at La Moncloa after the Council of Ministers
- Junta Electoral Central opens a new sanction file
Penalty range and next steps
The possible penalty differs between outlets. El Mundo cites a range of 300 to 3,000 euros, while ABC says up to 3,000 euros, with a smaller payment possible if Sánchez admits responsibility before the sanction is set. El Mundo reports that the board ordered the statements removed from all institutional websites and asked Sánchez to observe political neutrality during the electoral period. Sánchez announced the dissolution of the Cortes on 5 October, setting the general election for 29 November.
Congress and the decrees
La Vanguardia reports that the board partly accepted a PP appeal but rejected its request to stop the Congress's Diputación Permanente from validating decrees during the pre-election period. The judges sided with the government, which may approve decree-laws in this period and have them validated by the Diputación Permanente.
