Pedro Sánchez has announced this Monday morning his decision to stay on as Spanish prime minister. He communicated this to the public in an institutional appearance at 11am after having conveyed it to Felipe VI in a meeting earlier in the morning at the Zarzuela palace. In this way he ended five days of massive uncertainty, in which Spanish politics has been paralyzed waiting for the leader of the Socialist (PSOE) party to communicate his decision on whether to resign or remain at the head of the government. The announcement moves to a different phase the tension that began last Wednesday when he published a letter on his X social media account stating that he needed a few days to "reflect" on how he was dealing with the "unprecedented attack" that, in his opinion, his family has suffered, brought to a head by the judicial opening of a corruption investigation into his wife Begoña Gómez.
He announced that he would continue and nothing more than that; that is, in his appearance this morning he did not announce any intention to submit to a confidence vote in the Congress of Deputies, an option that was practically taken for granted in the case that he decided to remain in office after taking last week's unsettling step. Yes, he "appealed to the conscience" of the Spanish public to "mobilize for dignity and common sense by highlighting the shame we suffer" due to the political methods of the right and extreme right which he underlined in his letter on Wednesday. "I take on the responsibility to continue with even greater strength if necessary", he said, because in his five-day analysis he concluded that the consequences of political polarization "are not about a particular leader, but about deciding the type of society we want to be".
Pedro Sánchez, the key section of his "decision" speech this Monday morning: "I want to share with all of you what I have in the end decided, of which I have already informed the head of state this morning. I have decided to continue, continue with greater strength if necessary, at the head of the government of Spain. This decision does not imply simply moving on to the next point, but rather starting something new. [Cheers in background] I guarantee that. For that reason, I assume before all of you my commitment to work ceaselessly, with firmness and with serenity, for the pending regeneration of our democracy, and for the progress and consolidation of our rights and freedoms. I take on the decision to continue with greater strength if necessary, at the head of the government of Spain."
In the final hours before his announcement, there had been pessimism in Pedro Sánchez's circles. On Sunday, minister Óscar Puente - a trusted figure of the Spanish president - stated at an event in Galicia that "it was not easy". He said this 24 hours after being seen in tears at the Calle Ferraz headquarters, in front of 12,000 people who gathered to implore Sánchez to continue at the head of the government. María Jesús Montero, Félix Bolaños and Francina Armengol also cried; anxious to know what their leader would do. The silence of the Spanish PM, so prolonged, had made them start to be pessimistic.