This June 1st marks eight years since Pedro Sánchez came to the presidency of the Government after a motion of no confidence against Mariano Rajoy succeeded.
That parliamentary move, motivated by the ruling in the Gürtel case, which established that the Popular Party had profited from a corruption scheme, made Sánchez the first head of the Executive to access the position through this constitutional mechanism.
From the Motion of No Confidence to the Coalition Government
His rise to power in 2018 was made possible by the support of a broad parliamentary majority backed by Podemos, PNV, ERC, Bildu and other nationalist and regionalist parties.
What was initially conceived as a transitional period ended up consolidating into one of the longest presidencies in democracy, even surpassing the term of former Government President José María Aznar.
During these years, the Executive has promoted measures such as the increase in the minimum interprofessional wage, labor reforms, laws on equality, as well as other social policies that have defined a large part of its agenda. After the 2019 elections, Sánchez starred in another political milestone by forming the first coalition Government in the democracy alongside Unidas Podemos.
After calling the 2023 general elections early, Sánchez managed to remain in La Moncloa thanks to the agreements reached with nationalist and independentist parties, the main symbol of which was the controversial amnesty law for those involved in the procés.
His term has also been conditioned by extraordinary events such as the covid-19 pandemic, the energy crisis derived from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or the inflationary surge that affected a large part of Europe.
Judicial Cases and Pressure from His Partners and the PP
Eight years later, the political landscape presents a paradox difficult to ignore. The socialist leader reached La Moncloa under the banner of democratic regeneration and the fight against corruption, while now he faces increasing pressure in the courts due to the Koldo case, which affects former minister José Luis Ábalos and people close to him, the indictment of former Government President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Sánchez's strongman, or the Leire Díez case, which investigates an alleged network to halt court cases detrimental to the Government.
Therefore, its partners have asked for explanations and a forceful response. PNV and Junts, for their part, consider the legislature exhausted, and the Popular Party has called on these formations to support a motion of no confidence against Sánchez.
The PP spokesperson in Congress, Ester Muñoz, stated this Monday that, even if the head of the Executive "insults" her party, he will not manage to "divert the focus" from the corruption cases that implicate him. Furthermore, she stressed that today marks eight years since Sánchez's "scam" motion of no confidence, since, in her opinion, he did not come to power to "end corruption" but to "protect it".
In statements to the press upon arriving at the informative breakfast of the Nueva Economía Forum with the mayor of Badajoz, Ignacio Gragera, Muñoz insisted that the President of the Government "can insult" the PP "as much as he wants, but he will not divert the focus of attention".
Muñoz recalled that "exactly eight years ago today" Sánchez "presented a project with a motion of no confidence to end corruption and in defense of public ethics in politics". In her view, what has been seen since then "is a scam" because it did not aim to "end corruption" but to "work for corruption, that of his party, that of his friends, and that of his officials".
Sánchez claims his continuity
Despite the pressure on the Government, Sánchez strives to avoid signs of weariness. This Sunday, during the closing of the 27th Congress of Socialist Youth, the President of the Government claimed his political project and made it clear that he maintains his intact will to continue at the head of the Executive until the elections in 2027.
"When they ask me if I want to continue... Being President of the Government of Spain, which is the best country in the world, is an honor. And being the Secretary General of the PSOE, which makes our country greater, is the greatest pride one can have," he stated before the socialist militants.
¿Que si sigo teniendo ganas?
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) May 31, 2026
Ser presidente del Gobierno de España, que es el mejor país del mundo, es un honor.
Y ser el secretario general del @PSOE, que hace a nuestro país más grande, es el mayor orgullo que se puede tener. pic.twitter.com/8vhHk53Y7P
With these words, Sánchez dispels doubts about his intention to remain at the head of the Executive and face the final stretch of the legislature despite the succession of judicial investigations surrounding the socialist wing of the Government.