Sánchez seeks to secure support from allies in the face of Feijóo's offensive.

"Our partners want a legislative session, but they won't maintain their support for nothing," they assert at the Moncloa Palace. Pedro Sánchez successfully negotiated the "match point" of the Congress plenary session on Wednesday without any of his partners and allies breaking off relations or demanding early elections, despite the corruption scandals rocking the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) and threatening the course of the legislative session. But the Prime Minister is well aware that no one gave him a blank check, and he himself emphasized in his speech his determination to fulfill the "commitments" he made to all of them.
"This government is going to have to keep rolling up its sleeves," Minister Óscar López admitted yesterday. And Executive Spokesperson Pilar Alegría, despite emphasizing that the debate strengthened the investiture majority, acknowledged: "We are not naive and we know perfectly well what the situation of this government is. We have a parliamentary minority, and that forces us to work on every law until the last minute."
Although the threat of other members of the government or the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) soon being targeted for judicial investigations has by no means been averted, Sánchez is seeking to secure the support of the investiture bloc in a hurry to maintain the course of the legislature during this intense month of July. This is ahead of the planned August break, which the Moncloa hopes will at least serve to reduce the level of political confrontation. Several important events are scheduled to achieve this.
To begin with, next Monday, July 14, the bilateral commission between the State and the Generalitat (Catalan Government) will meet in Barcelona to advance the new model for singular financing and tax collection in Catalonia . This is one of the major pending agreements between the PSOE and ERC, and the Executive emphasizes that they are working with the prospect of sealing a pact with Oriol Junqueras's party.
The following day, July 15, Sánchez and Lehendakari Imanol Pradales will meet in Madrid as part of the bilateral committee between the two executives. Progress on the transfer of outstanding responsibilities to the Basque Country—for example, the management of non-contributory benefits and unemployment benefits—is also essential for the government to retain the trust of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), whose spokesperson in Congress, Maribel Vaquero, warned Sánchez that "it is heading for the ICU."
Furthermore, next Friday, July 18, the government will once again defend its commitment to the official status of Catalan, Basque, and Galician in EU institutions at the European Union General Affairs Council. This is one of the government's commitments to Junts, key to maintaining the support of Carles Puigdemont's party. "If Sánchez is interested in continuing his term, he must comply with Catalonia's terms. If he doesn't comply, it means Sánchez will be happy to go to elections," Miriam Nogueras warned yesterday.
The head of the Executive tries to advance this month in his commitments with Junts, ERC and PNVAnd there's still one final plenary session of Congress pending before the summer break, on July 22, where the Government aims to demonstrate that it maintains the confidence of the parliamentary majority with the approval of seven laws and legislative initiatives, including the creation of the Public Health Agency.
Minister Félix Bolaños warned that this is the real issue of trust that the government faces: "We continue to win votes and pass laws." "This term, we have already passed 36 laws, and this will likely increase to 43 by the July plenary session," Bolaños predicted.
Sumar, a coalition partner, also did not ease the pressure. Yolanda Díaz's party is pleased that Sánchez has incorporated many of their proposals into his anti-corruption plan. But they urge him not to rest on his laurels and implement them before August. "We will be very forceful," warned Ernest Urtasun. "We will not allow these measures to fall asleep," warned Aina Vidal.
Meanwhile, the PSOE and PP are escalating their clashes following the harsh accusations Sánchez and Alberto Núñez Feijóo exchanged the day before regarding the corruption cases affecting their respective parties. Óscar López warned that Feijóo is "the dirtiest top-level politician there has ever been in Spain." And Pilar Alegría called the PP leader "unkind and unbridled."
But Feijóo's party, far from being intimidated, is redoubling its offensive against Sánchez, even on the family front, as their leader did when he alluded to the alleged "brothels" of the president's father-in-law, now deceased.
The Popular Party (PP) is attacking a government they accuse of "hiring prostitutes with public money."The PP's general secretary, Miguel Tellado, argued that all Feijóo did was remind Sánchez "about his political family's business dealings, nothing more and nothing less." He asserted that it was the PSOE that crossed the "red lines" with its personal attacks on Isabel Díaz Ayuso, or by bringing up Feijóo's former relationship with drug trafficker Marcial Dorado from the archives. "Sánchez should not go down that path, should not try to poison the image of others to cover up the misery that surrounds him as a politician in office," he warned.
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The PP immediately filed a barrage of parliamentary questions—as many as 18—to demand that the government explain "the use of public buildings as brothels by Sánchez's father-in-law." "The truth may be very harsh, but it's even harsher to have a government that hires prostitutes with public money and is besieged by corruption," warned its new spokesperson, Ester Muñoz.
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