Latest news with #RebecaTorro
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Spain ruling party bars members from hiring sex workers
Hit by a corruption scandal involving alleged kickbacks and sex workers, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's party shook up its top leadership Saturday and banned members from paying for sex. Sanchez, 53, is facing the biggest crisis of his seven years in power. That was heightened on Monday by the detention of a former top official in his Socialist party, Santos Cerdan, in an investigation involving allegations of corruption and hiring sex workers. In a bid to right the ship, the Socialist party announced that "soliciting, accepting or obtaining sexual acts in exchange for money" was now banned for party members, punishable by "the maximum sanction, expulsion from the party". "If we believe a woman's body is not for sale, our party cannot allow behaviour contrary to that," Sanchez said. "These are difficult times for everyone, without a doubt," he told party leaders at a meeting in Madrid, once again apologising for trusting those caught up in the growing scandal. But he also reiterated his refusal to step down. "The captain doesn't look the other way when seas get rough. He stays to steer the ship through the storm," he said. The party also announced a leadership shake-up, replacing Cerdan as its number three official with 44-year-old lawyer Rebeca Torro. The meeting started behind schedule after another close Sanchez ally, Francisco Salazar, who had been due to take a top leadership post, resigned. Online news site said Salazar had been accused of "inappropriate behaviour" by several women who had formerly reported to him in the party. Former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos has also been implicated in the investigation into kickbacks for public contracts. The conservative opposition People's Party (PP) held a meeting of its own, looking to capitalise on the Socialists' stumbles. "We're the only alternative to this state of decline," said PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, calling his party the answer to Spain's divisions and "political fatigue". "Spaniards deserve a government that doesn't lie to them, that doesn't rob them but serves them," he said. al/jhb/jj
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Spain ruling party bars members from hiring sex workers
Hit by a corruption scandal involving alleged kickbacks and sex workers, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's party shook up its top leadership Saturday and banned members from paying for sex. Sanchez, 53, is facing the biggest crisis of his seven years in power. That was heightened on Monday by the detention of a former top official in his Socialist party, Santos Cerdan, in an investigation involving allegations of corruption and hiring sex workers. In a bid to right the ship, the Socialist party announced that "soliciting, accepting or obtaining sexual acts in exchange for money" was now banned for party members, punishable by "the maximum sanction, expulsion from the party". "If we believe a woman's body is not for sale, our party cannot allow behaviour contrary to that," Sanchez said. "These are difficult times for everyone, without a doubt," he told party leaders at a meeting in Madrid, once again apologising for trusting those caught up in the growing scandal. But he also reiterated his refusal to step down. "The captain doesn't look the other way when seas get rough. He stays to steer the ship through the storm," he said. The party also announced a leadership shake-up, replacing Cerdan as its number three official with 44-year-old lawyer Rebeca Torro. The meeting started behind schedule after another close Sanchez ally, Francisco Salazar, who had been due to take a top leadership post, resigned. Online news site said Salazar had been accused of "inappropriate behaviour" by several women who had formerly reported to him in the party. Former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos has also been implicated in the investigation into kickbacks for public contracts. The conservative opposition People's Party (PP) held a meeting of its own, looking to capitalise on the Socialists' stumbles. "We're the only alternative to this state of decline," said PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, calling his party the answer to Spain's divisions and "political fatigue". "Spaniards deserve a government that doesn't lie to them, that doesn't rob them but serves them," he said. al/jhb/jj
France 24
05-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Spain ruling party bars members from hiring sex workers
Sanchez, 53, is facing the biggest crisis of his seven years in power. That was heightened on Monday by the detention of a former top official in his Socialist party, Santos Cerdan, in an investigation involving allegations of corruption and hiring sex workers. In a bid to right the ship, the Socialist party announced that "soliciting, accepting or obtaining sexual acts in exchange for money" was now banned for party members, punishable by "the maximum sanction, expulsion from the party". "If we believe a woman's body is not for sale, our party cannot allow behaviour contrary to that," Sanchez said. "These are difficult times for everyone, without a doubt," he told party leaders at a meeting in Madrid, once again apologising for trusting those caught up in the growing scandal. But he also reiterated his refusal to step down. "The captain doesn't look the other way when seas get rough. He stays to steer the ship through the storm," he said. The party also announced a leadership shake-up, replacing Cerdan as its number three official with 44-year-old lawyer Rebeca Torro. The meeting started behind schedule after another close Sanchez ally, Francisco Salazar, who had been due to take a top leadership post, resigned. Online news site said Salazar had been accused of "inappropriate behaviour" by several women who had formerly reported to him in the party. Former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos has also been implicated in the investigation into kickbacks for public contracts. The conservative opposition People's Party (PP) held a meeting of its own, looking to capitalise on the Socialists' stumbles. "We're the only alternative to this state of decline," said PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, calling his party the answer to Spain's divisions and "political fatigue". © 2025 AFP
Telegraph
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Spain's Socialist PM loses ally over sex harassment allegations
Pedro Sánchez, Spain's embattled prime minister, has suffered a blow in his attempt to draw a line under a corruption scandal after a new appointee resigned over sexual harassment allegations. Francisco Salazar, a close ally of Mr Sánchez, stepped back as a deputy in the organisation's secretariat and asked for the allegations to be investigated, the Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) said in a statement. The PSOE said it would begin an inquiry immediately, adding that no allegations had been made through its usual channels. The move came in response to a media report that Mr Salazar had made inappropriate sexual advances to a younger female member of staff for the PSOE. The woman, who has not been named, told the El Diario news outlet that Mr Salazar had made sexual comments and invited her to sleep at his house. News of the resignation came moments before Mr Sanchez was due to speak at his party HQ as he sought to assuage fears over sleaze. Speaking an hour later than scheduled, Mr Sanchez called for any woman suffering sexual abuse to use the channels provided by the party to report it. 'If we believe that a woman's body is not for sale, then there can be no room for behaviour that contradicts this belief,' he said, without mentioning Mr Salazar. The PSOE on Saturday named Rebeca Torro as Cerdan's replacement as secretary of organisation and two deputies. Salazar would have been the third deputy secretary. Mr Sanchez is coming under increased pressure after several senior figures in his party have been linked to a police corruption investigation. Santos Cerdán, the party secretary, resigned last month when the Spanish press reported that the police had evidence linking him to a scheme in which companies were charged in return for government contracts. The prime minister, who came to power in 2018, apologised to the public in the wake of the allegations, claiming he had been 'mistaken' to put his trust in Mr Cerdán. On Monday, a Supreme Court judge ordered that Mr Cerdán be held in pre-trial detention. He denies the allegations. José Luis Ábalos, a member of Mr Sanchez's cabinet up until 2021, is also at the centre of a graft investigation allegedly linking him to hundreds of thousands of euros in illicit payments. He has denied any wrongdoing Since 2023, Mr Sanchez has led a fragile minority government in which he relies on the support of the hard-Left and regionalist parties. In recent weeks, speculation has increased that the long-time prime minister has lost the support of his coalition and will have to call a snap election.
