Manuel Naharro, the president who wanted sex while offering jobs

BarcelonaManuel Naharro Gata is the second most powerful person in Extremadura since his election this week as president of the regional parliament. Born in 1986, he has been the mayor of Valencia de Mombuey, a town of 700 inhabitants, since 2007, when he was just 21 years old. He combined this position with a rise within the People's Party (PP), where he has been the provincial president of Badajoz since 2021, and a trusted advisor to the president of Extremadura, María Guardiola, who fiercely defended him against accusations of committing a crime against sexual freedom (which were later dismissed by the courts). Naharro, who holds a higher technical degree in administration and finance, was reported in 2024 for offering jobs in exchange for sex, and since then, criticism has been a constant presence in his life. Specifically, when he was already vice-president of the Parliament, he offered a job as a driver to a member of the PP: "I could have a job as a driver: 14 payments of 1,800 euros net," his interlocutor told him in a message, according to a private chat included in a police report revealed by Daily NetworkThe complainant replied that it was a matter of "sitting down and talking about it," and Naharro told him to come whenever he wanted. A few days later, he asked for his resume, finally asking the question that would get to the point: "Do you want to screw a nail?" The PP member who was hoping for the job was astonished, especially considering that up to that point they had only spoken "three or four times," as he explained in the complaint. "You set the price," the politician then added. "What do you say?" the complainant asked, in a response that triggered a partial reversal: "Nothing, if you don't want to, nothing," he said in an initial message, adding that it was "a good deal": "What do you say?" he reiterated. A few days later, Naharro backtracked: "Sorry if I bothered you the other day."

Legally, the case went nowhere, and the court of first instance dismissed the complaint because it found no crime had been committed. Naharro had already been vice president of the regional assembly since 2023. Naharro denounced Daily NetworkThe newspaper owned by Pablo Iglesias was accused of using the messages to disseminate them, and claimed that "everything was manipulated." However, the judge validated the "veracity" and "verification" of the news and ordered Naharro to pay court costs. The left, led by the PSOE, has been calling for his resignation since he announced his intention to run again on the electoral lists.