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Sánchez Unveils 15-Point OECD-Backed Anti-Corruption Plan

His coalition allies offered conditional backing to his minority government after he refused to resign.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez gives a speech at the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez gives a speech at the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrives at the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez looks on as he sits in the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Overview

  • The 15-point framework, crafted with the OECD, proposes an independent public integrity agency, AI-driven procurement audits, annual wealth checks for senior officials, and tougher penalties for corruption.
  • PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo dismissed the measures as inadequate and demanded a snap election, but Sánchez refused to call early polls.
  • Far-left and regional nationalist parties have signalled they will continue to prop up Sánchez’s minority government conditional on the swift implementation of the reforms.
  • The scandal stems from a police report implicating ex-transport minister José Luis Ábalos and former party secretary Santos Cerdán in kickback schemes that led to Cerdán’s pre-trial detention and Abalos’s expulsion.
  • The reforms come as Spain heads into regional and European elections, putting pressure on the government’s credibility on corruption reform.