Pedro Sánchez has changed Lanzarote for Andorra to enjoy the last days of August. After several weeks settled in La Mareta, the president of the Government will travel this Wednesday to the Principality along with Begoña Gómez, according to ABC. There they will meet again with a scenario they know well: the couple already chose Andorra last summer to rest and practice mountain biking.
The getaway comes after an August marked by the migration crisis in Ceuta, which has forced the Executive to mobilize a good part of its structure and has led this week to some of the most significant decisions since the massive entries at the end of July.
Sánchez has spent most of August in Lanzarote. From there he met by videoconference with the ministers involved in the Ceuta crisis on the 7th and 17th. These were his two main interventions during a vacation marked by the emergency in the autonomous city.
This Tuesday, the head of the Executive reappeared at the meeting of the Council of Ministers. Later, Moncloa released a photograph in which the president appears at the back of the table and without a tie. The image confirmed his presence on a day when the Government made important decisions, but Sánchez also did not appear yesterday before the media.
It was Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Ángel Víctor Torres, and Elma Saiz who explained the measures after the Council of Ministers meeting.
Twenty-four hours later, the president leaves Madrid again.
From La Mareta to Andorra
According to ABC, Sánchez and Gómez will presumably remain in Andorra until next Sunday, when August ends. The couple will return to stay at the Sport Hotel Hermitage & Spa de Soldeu, a five-star luxury establishment located at the foot of Grandvalira.
The plan has many similarities with last summer's. Also then Sánchez closed August in the Andorran mountains after spending a good part of his vacation in Lanzarote.
The bicycle explains a good part of the choice. Sánchez and Gómez share a passion for mountain biking and Andorra offers during the summer a wide network of routes and circuits, in addition to hosting some of the main international competitions in this discipline.
The precedent of last summer
Sánchez and Gómez were already in Andorra at the end of August 2025 and then chose the same hotel in Soldeu.
The private vacation ended up having public repercussions due to two circumstances: the significant security detail that accompanied the president and the protests that reached the vicinity of the establishment.
Different Spanish and Andorran media reported then on a wide presence of bodyguards during the couple's movements. The protection was also maintained during some of their sports outings, with agents accompanying them while they practiced cycling.
Spanish politics ended up reaching them even there. Three members of Hazte Oír traveled to Soldeu and displayed banners against Sánchez at several points, including the area near the hotel. The Andorran police later identified them near the border, although they were not sanctioned because the protest took place peacefully and without public order disturbances.
This summer Sánchez and Gómez return to the same destination and, according to ABC, also to the same establishment.
An August marked by Ceuta
The trip comes this time after a vacation politically conditioned by the Ceuta crisis.
Since the massive entries at the end of July, the Government has had to reinforce the police deployment, manage the reception and transfer of migrants, negotiate the European response, and face criticism for the information available before the crisis.
This Tuesday, the Government declared the situation of interest for National Security in Ceuta and designated the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, as the functional authority in charge of coordinating the actions.
Changes in Immigration and Asylum before closing the vacation
After the return from Pedro Sánchez's first vacation, the Executive approved yesterday in the first round a new Asylum Law and a reform of the Immigration Law to adapt Spanish regulations to the European Migration and Asylum Pact.
It should be noted that Spain supported the Pact, but had opted not to incorporate all the possibilities allowed by the new community framework into its legislation. The Ceuta crisis has now led the Interior Ministry to review that criterion and take advantage of instruments that it had initially decided not to use.
Among them are the triage at the border, accelerated procedures for certain requests for international protection, and mechanisms aimed at speeding up the returns of those who do not have the right to remain in Spain.
Marlaska justified the change by the need to respond to a "new migratory reality." The Minister of the Interior was precisely one of those responsible for explaining the decisions made this Tuesday.
Andorra before September
The trip also has a particular schedule for Begoña Gómez. The president's wife has several legal fronts open that will resume activity after the August break. Her legal procedure has been open for more than two years and the trial does not start now, but September will return her matters to the courts.
The Provincial Court of Madrid corrected in July part of the procedure followed against Gómez for the alleged crimes of influence peddling and embezzlement and confirmed that the case must continue through the procedures provided for the jury court. Gómez maintains the presumption of innocence.