What is the leaked WhatsApp messages scandal embroiling Spain's PM?

The latest in Spain’s seemingly never-ending string of political scandals emerged recently, centred on leaked private WhatsApp messages from Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in which he refers to colleagues as “hypocrites” and a "disgrace".

He calls his own Defence Minister Margarita Robles una pájara - an unflattering way to describe a cunning and unscrupulous woman - and accused Pablo Iglesias, his former Deputy Prime Minister and the then leader of far-left Podemos, of “stupidity” and described him as politically “clumsy”.

The messages are also interesting in that they reveal just how close Sánchez was to José Luis Ábalos, former Transport Minister and number two in the Socialist Party (PSOE), and how depended on him as his political fixer. Ábalos has since left his post amid corruption allegations.

Published in an exclusive by the right-leaning El Mundo over the weekend, the leaked messages reveal Sánchez unmasked. But is this story as big or as important as it’s been made out to be?

READ ALSO: How bad is corruption in Spain in 2025?

Sánchez’s WhatsApp scandal

In the messages, Sánchez ordered his then right-hand man Ábalos to maintain party discipline and crack down on dissenters from within his own ranks. In doing so, he refers to his own colleagues in unflattering terms.

It also raises further questions about how much Sánchez personally knew about the alleged corruption, though there appears to be no particularly damning exchanges as El Mundo and opposition parties might have hoped for. More leaks could follow, however.

Ábalos has been embroiled in the ongoing Caso Koldo corruption case for well over a year, one of several alleged corruption investigations surrounding Sánchez’s inner-circle in recent years, including his brother and wife.

The leaks have caused concern and unease within the PSOE and given the opposition Partido Popular (PP) fresh ammunition to attack the government, now in its seventh year in power.

The messages were discovered at the house of Koldo García, Ábalos' former advisor, as part of the investigation into the case. Further tranches of messages have been released since El Mundo’s initial splash, though it seems the WhatsApps reveal more about internal party management and how the Sánchez government operates from La Moncloa.

READ ALSO: What is Spain's 'Caso Koldo' corruption scandal all about?

What do the messages say?

Without a ‘smoking gun’ in terms of corruption cases, the messages are perhaps most interesting for their insight into how Sánchez governs behind closed doors.

The messages show an incredibly high degree of trust between Sánchez and Ábalos in which the former Minister functions as the Prime Minister’s closest confidant and political enforcer. This was already widely known, but to see it in private messages reinforces just how close they were and how much Sánchez depended on Ábalos for day-to-day party management.

“I have missed working with you many times, and your friendship too,” Sánchez said in one message after Ábalos left his post when he became submerged in corruption allegations.

In Spain’s highly devolved autonomous community system of government, the messages also reveal the extent to which Sánchez worried about PSOE power bases in regions of Spain.

In particular, Sánchez repeatedly contacts Ábalos to maintain control over critical regional presidents, such as Emiliano García-Page, President of Castilla-La Mancha and long-time critic of Sánchez’s deal making with Basque and Catalan separatists, as well as Javier Lambán (Aragón) and Guillermo Fernández Vara (Extremadura).

Some of Sánchez’s language is strong for a Prime Minister, granted, but perhaps not for private messages. Still, the Prime Minister used terms such as “hypocrites” and “disgrace" to refer to his regional barones (barons) and ordered Ábalos to call them in order to avoid public disagreements on sensitive issues.

On Page specifically, following an unflattering interview given by the regional president, Sánchez dispatched Ábalos: “It would be a good idea for both you and Santos to give him a slap on the wrist and tell him to stop messing around,” Sánchez said.

Who leaked the PM’s private messages?

It remains unclear. Speculation in the Spanish media – and it seems little more than that, for now — suggests there are four possible ways these private conversations could have come to light: a leak from within the Supreme Court; from investigators in Spain’s Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Guardia Civil, which is investigating the Caso Koldo; from Koldo García himself; or Ábalos.

Spanish media reports suggest that Ábalos kept the messages on file in order to later write a memoir.

Are Sánchez's private messages important?

For political pundits and Spain’s chattering classes, these leaked WhatsApp messages are firstly, fantastic gossip, and, secondly, insight into how Sánchez – a man widely regarded across the spectrum as a ruthless political operator – runs his government.

In many of the exchanges, Sánchez read or heard interviews given by his own cabinet ministers or regional presidents and ordered Ábalos to discipline them.

An interesting look behind the curtain though this is for political nerds, in reality, that the Prime Minister (in any party, in any country) would want to maintain internal party discipline and a united front politically is unsurprising.

Where his private words could become important, perhaps even dangerous politically speaking, is if more messages are leaked that reveal clear evidence that Sánchez had knowledge of the Koldo Affair or any other ongoing corruption investigation.

A drip feed of the Prime Minister’s personal messages would inevitably be personally damaging and add to the growing sense that the Sánchez government is fatigued and will be voted out at the next election, whenever it comes.