PP's problems with the Dominican Republic over a video of Sánchez in a swimsuit

BarcelonaA video of Pedro Sánchez in a bathing suit, accusations of corruption, a diplomatic clash with the Dominican Republic and the Spanish president apologising on behalf of the PP. These are the main ingredients of the surreal situation that has generated the latest campaign of Alberto Núñez Feijóo's party against the PSOE. And all this in less than 24 hours. But let's go by the details.

The Popular Party published a video on social media This Thursday inspired by the popular Telecinco program The island of temptationsIn this case, however, it was baptized as The island of corruption, and the supposed contestants were Pedro Sánchez and his wife, Begoña Gómez; the former minister José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García; the commissioner Víctor de Aldama, and even the president of Congress, Francina Armengol.

Most of them appeared in swimsuits, some showing off statuesque bodies generated with artificial intelligence and enjoying the sun and the sea on paradisiacal beaches. In others, the images were less pleasant. "Welcome to the island of corruption," said the voiceover of the video, whose objective was none other than to point out the socialist leaders involved in the cases of alleged corruption that are being investigated in the courts.

The international impact of the PP video

The video quickly went viral and received thousands of views. However, the result was not exactly what was expected on Génova Street, and the reason can be found in the final 12 seconds of the video – a little over half a minute long. The words came out: corruption, lust, ambition and lies, combined with the image of the flag and the map of the Dominican Republic, the country where it is recorded The island of temptationsAnd this is where it all goes wrong.

The government of the Caribbean country reacted shortly after and described the PP's campaign as an "incomprehensible attack" in the Dominican Republic. "The instrumentalization of the country's image and the denaturation of its patriotic symbols is unacceptable, and what is worse, due to internal matters of Spanish politics," it criticized in a message to X in which it claimed the efforts of the Dominican executive to strengthen the rule of law and transparency.

The response to the controversy and Pedro Sánchez's apologies

The PP was quick to apologize and remove the video: "At no time was there any attempt to damage the image of the Dominican Republic, a country with a long tradition of friendship and proximity to Spain," said the PP. But the damage had already been done and the "unwarranted insult," as denounced by the Dominican Foreign Ministry, raised the controversy to the level of a diplomatic clash.

So much so that tonight it was Pedro Sánchez himself who ended up reacting. "The only thing I can say is that I feel very ashamed, and that on behalf of Spain I am sorry, I am deeply sorry," he said from Brussels, where he appeared after The European Summit for RearmamentIn a clear jab at the PP, the Spanish president said he had not seen the video because he was busy with "very important issues", but he wanted to apologize to the Dominican Republic, an "extraordinary and friendly" country, and urged Alberto Núñez Feijóo's party to answer for their actions.

The PP's campaign, which is making an effort to be more present on social media and to reach out to young people, has not gone well. But not only because of the diplomatic insult, but because the PSOE has dipped its toe in the images of the muscular socialist leader. "The Popular Party is trying to humiliate the president of the government with a video whose first plan is this," said a tweet on Wednesday republished by party leaders. "Feijoo's politics for adults is not very good," ironically said Minister Óscar Puente on the same social network.