To international onlookers, Pedro Sànchez appears to have achieved the impossible. Where other European leftist and left-ish premiers have flopped and flailed, the Spanish PM has endured. Since June 2018, Sánchez has ruled from Madrid, implementing a raft of progressive policies.
More recently, he has emerged as a leading, and often lone, left-wing European voice on the global stage, striking a defiant tone on everything from the Trump administration’s war in Iran (“the smokescreen of war to hide their failure”) to Israel’s actions in Gaza (“exterminating a defenceless people”). The fact that the international press has nicknamed him El Guapo (the handsome one) can’t hurt. At home, however, it’s a more complex story.
Sánchez’s inner circle is in the midst of a damaging corruption scandal, and polling has his traditionally centre-left Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) faltering. Meanwhile, recent scenes in Ceuta and apocalyptic wildfires throw up thorny policy challenges. European leaders have publicly turned on Sànchez – and this is with a general election looming next year.
But just like the UK’s own prime minister, while Sànchez has carved out a name for himself, he was not always the left-wing figure he is seen as today. For today’s First Edition, we ask: who is the real Pedro Sànchez? And, what lessons can Andy Burnham learn from his tenure?
Madrid-based journalist Eoghan Gilmartin helps us answer these questions. Before that, the headlines: UK economy | The UK should expect to see a new cost of living crisis, with official figures released this week by the ONS expected to show how soaring energy bills drove up inflation close to 3% in July. Ceuta | Moroccan police arrested 111 people this weekend, who were trying to enter Spain’s north African territory of Ceuta, amid tightened security on both sides after social media posts called for another mass crossing.
Jason Arday | The University of Cambridge has defended its mental health support for the academic Jason Arday. UK politics | Andy Burnham is being urged to protect 4 million gig economy workers, who thinktanks warn miss out on key statutory rights including: parental leave, redundancy pay and protection against unfair dismissal. Indonesia | Rescue crews dug through collapsed buildings and landslide debris in eastern Indonesia on Sunday, searching for bodies after a powerful earthquake killed at least 51 people, and injured more than 100.
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