Bridge, on the condemnation of Sánchez's brother: "The only purpose is to overthrow the government"

MadridThe Spanish government's first reaction has not had to wait long for the conviction of Pedro Sánchez's brother to 9 years of disqualification. The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, who is one of the government members who has shown himself to be most belligerent against the judiciary, has assured that the sentence is an attempt to oust the PSOE from the Spanish government. "This era will be studied in history books as the one in which the seams of our institutions were strained with the sole purpose of overthrowing a government due to the inability to do so through the ballot box," he stated.

The spokesperson for the state executive, Elma Saiz, added that she does not share the judicial ruling and went to the "origin" of the case: "It started with an ultra association, there is no private prosecution and the Prosecutor's Office requested acquittal [...]. We hope that in higher instances David Sánchez's innocence will be proven," she pointed out, as his defense can now file an appeal with the Badajoz Court of Justice. On the other hand, for the popular prosecutions involved in the proceedings, the sentence is a victory. Iustitia Europa, in a statement, assures that it is a milestone for the rule of law and congratulates itself on its insistence given that the public ministry decided not to prosecute. A similar assessment was made by Manos Limpias and Hazte Oír, who remarked that Leire Díez —the Civil Guard found evidence that she was trying to disable this process— did not succeed before the Badajoz justice system. "It reinforces judicial independence," says Manos Limpias.

However, from Moncloa, they show indignation following the condemnation of Sánchez's brother and, while avoiding the use of the word lawfare, they speak of "political cause with the sole objective of persecuting the president's family". "It is an outrage that an innocent person is condemned without proof", they sentence, and they express confidence that the resolution will be corrected by higher instances. According to the same sources, the condemnation of the Attorney General — without proof, they interpret — set a "dangerous" precedent for democracy, as they consider that popular accusations driven by the far-right and with the endorsement of the PP and Vox lead to "unjust sentences". However, will it have any effect on the Moncloa's course? The answer is no. "They will not bring down the government", they conclude.

The PP, on the contrary, believes that this Tuesday is another "historic day": "For the first time in democracy, a Spanish prime minister has his brother convicted." "In any country, this would cause any government to fall," reiterated the PP spokesperson in Congress, Ester Muñoz, in statements in the corridors of the lower house. Muñoz recalled that former Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz and Sánchez's former right-hand man, José Luis Ábalos, have also been convicted. "And here nothing happens," denounced the popular spokesperson. For the PP, "Sánchez should have resigned a long time ago."

The leader of the popular party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, spoke out on X to defend the judiciary: "That no one is above the law, whatever the family, speaks well of our rule of law," he affirmed. In statements in the corridors of Congress, Feijóo added a criticism of the Spanish government's reaction to the sentence. "Who is to disqualify it? What they have to do is abide by it." The popular leader expressed "concern" about the attitude of Sánchez and his ministers towards judicial decisions and warned that they are entering "a dangerous sphere." Even harsher was the leader of the far-right Vox party, Santiago Abascal. "It's a mafia," he summarized on X, lamenting that he still governs because, in his opinion, until now the far-right has been the only one to denounce it.

"Now the PSOE knows what it's like"

From Catalonia, the spokesperson for the Generalitat, Sílvia Paneque, has spoken. "Respect for judicial rulings and respect for the presumption of innocence. There is the possibility of appeal," she limited herself to saying. More forceful was the leader of Esquerra, Gabriel Rufián, who reacted via X: "The only good thing about this David Sánchez and Begoña Gómez situation is that now the PSOE knows what it feels like when a judge persecutes you for your ideas, for being who you are, or simply for your face," he said. "Tidying up the judiciary should be a priority," he sentenced.

At the same time, Sumar has stressed in a statement that "rulings like this explain why citizens have stopped believing in the Spanish "justice system" because "people have been seeing for years how powers that no one has chosen are trying to bring down this government". In the case of Podem, its spokesperson, Pablo Fernández, has assured that "the case of David Sánchez is a case of "nepotism" which is wrong", but that "it is clear that there is a very clear political intentionality in the ruling" and that "if it had not been about Pedro Sánchez's brother", "it would not have been the same".