First face-to-face between the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, after the indictment of José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero for up to four crimes became known. During his turn in the control session, Feijóo directly accused the socialist government of having created a political environment that, according to him, "allowed corruption within the Executive and the PSOE".
“What is he still doing there, tarnishing the Presidency of the Government of Spain for one more day?”, asked the popular leader to Sánchez. Feijóo maintained that the president's political responsibility is unavoidable and assured that without the support of the current Executive, “neither Zapatero, nor Ábalos, nor Santos Cerdán would have been able to commit crimes”.
The president of the PP was especially harsh when referring to the former socialist president, whom he described as the “moral beacon” of Sánchez. “One only has to read the ruling to realize that without his Council of Ministers, Zapatero would not have been able to commit crimes. And that is the key to everything,” he reiterated.
On the other hand, Feijóo also accused the President of the Government of having come to power “not to clean anything up, but to plunder everything.” In one of the most tense moments of the face-to-face, he attributed a supposed motto of his own, loaded with rhetoric, to the socialist Executive: “Whoever can steal, let them steal.”
🔴#PLENO| Feijóo (@NunezFeijoo), to Sánchez: "Without his council of ministers, Mr. Zapatero would not have been able to commit crimes"
— demócrata (@democrata_info) May 20, 2026
🗣️ Abascal (@Santi_ABASCAL), to Sánchez: "All of Spain knows that you are the boss of Ábalos, you are the boss of Koldo, and you are Zapatero's partner"
📲 Follow… pic.twitter.com/xBOzseYFID
Furthermore, he recalled recent judicial cases affecting former socialist leaders: “They applauded Ábalos and he is in jail. They defended ‘Super Santos Cerdán’ and he is on his way back to jail. All that remains is to see how long he can last without also denying Zapatero.”
The leader of the opposition concluded his speech with a direct message against the coalition government: “Spain is governed by corrupt people and I will make sure that this changes.”
