Francisco Salazar, a longtime strategist for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, stepped down on Saturday from the governing Socialist Party’s executive line-up and suspended his duties at La Moncloa after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment. Salazar had been due to become one of three deputies to the party’s new secretary of organisation, Rebeca Torró, but requested to be removed and called for an internal probe before the Federal Committee could ratify his promotion.
The PSOE said it would open an investigation immediately, adding that no formal complaints had yet been filed through its established channels. Online reports cited a Moncloa employee who alleged Salazar made obscene comments about her appearance, invited her to private dinners and asked her to stay at his home, behaviour she described as an abuse of power. Reuters was unable to reach Salazar for comment.
The resignation dealt an instant blow to Sánchez’s effort to refresh party leadership after last week’s jailing of former organisation chief Santos Cerdán on graft charges. Addressing delegates an hour behind schedule, the prime minister urged victims of sexual abuse to use party mechanisms, declaring, “If we believe that a woman’s body is not for sale, then there can be no room for behaviour that contradicts this belief.”
Salazar’s exit leaves Torró with only two deputies and intensifies scrutiny of the Socialist leader as he works to contain parallel scandals that have rattled the minority coalition. Senior PSOE figures acknowledged the mounting pressure, while opposition parties renewed calls for a no-confidence vote, although Sánchez’s parliamentary allies have so far refused to back such a move.
In Spain, Pedro Sánchez makes a clean sweep of the leaders of the Socialist Party after the arrest for corruption of the organizational secretary Santos Cerdán and the resignation of one of his collaborators accused of sexual harassment. But it might not be enough to save the government
