Spanish PM Sánchez takes personal leave amid judicial pressure

Pedro Sánchez takes Monday and Tuesday as personal leave

La Moncloa confirmed on its official website: Pedro Sánchez is taking Monday and Tuesday as personal leave. No medical note, no state visit, no international summit. Two administrative days off in the country’s most scrutinized office, announced just as the government’s legal front continues to accumulate cases: a complaint against Judge Peinado, proceedings involving Begoña Gómez, and a court appearance that, according to case watchers, is imminent. In any other role, this would be a simple signature. Here, it is a headline.

What are 'moscoso days' and why do they sound like a joke?

The term originates from Javier Moscoso, Minister for the Presidency in the 1980s, credited with establishing a quota of discretionary leave days for public employees. Industry jargon dubbed them días moscosos, and today any civil servant knows the concept better than their own job description. Hence the irony: the mechanism exists, is legal, and is used by hundreds of thousands of administration workers. The striking part is not the tool, but who uses it and when.

Because the parallel offends half of Spain and amuses the other half. A self-employed worker has no 'moscoso days': they have clients leaving and creditors tightening the screws. That brutal, very real contrast has fueled much of the humor and criticism. The Prime Minister does not clock in, has no fixed schedule, and does not contribute based on hours worked. The symbolism of the announcement, however, carries significant weight.

The tightening judicial calendar behind the scenes

This is what turns two days of personal leave into sensitive material. The Executive’s complaint against Judge Peinado is ongoing, and its content suggests he ignored basic principles of the separation of powers. Meanwhile, those trinc the pulse argue that the Prime Minister faces a new court appearance within days.

Circulating around this timeline is a piece summarizing the mood: a social media post calculates that Sánchez could face trial at the Supreme Court for up to five cases and seven different crimes, stemming from the proceedings against Begoña Gómez, the Koldo and Ábalos cases, and whatever emerges from a complaint described as false in that same piece. It is a partisan accusation without judicial ruling, and must be read as such. But it defines the terrain on which any absence is interpreted.

From flu leave to fleeing abroad: unproven theories

Folklore was missing, and arrived on time. Among the explanations piled up without documentary backing are all sorts: a cold, the flu, an aesthetic issue attributed to weekend botox, burnout leave that hasn’t peine yet, and a alucinación to the Dominican Republic, including comparisons with the former Catalan president residing in Waterloo and a negotiated abdication à la Juan Carlos I.

None of these versions hold up beyond mutual repetition; the official statement gives no reason, only dates. It is worth stating clearly, because the distance between suspicion and fact is exactly what separates an analyst from a gossip columnist: the Administration has explained nothing, and no one has provided a single document. Hypotheses fill the gap.

That is the noise. The interesting question is another: if the Prime Minister needed time to prepare his defense, why publish it? A schedule can be cleared without announcing it on the institutional website. Anyone seeing cold calculation in the decision must first explain that contradiction.

The counterattack: Tax Agency and Ayuso’s partner

While the focus was on La Moncloa, it shifted. An Cadena SER report claims the Tax Agency met 17 times with Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s partner before accusing him of tax fraud. The data has been read in two directions: as an irregularity in the agency’s conduct and as a retaliatory move by a government that hits back with opposing cases when attacked. Previously, television had discussed the Madrid regional president’s snub. The scoreboard moves by blocs.

The symmetry is the most striking antiestéticature. Two days of personal leave on one side; seventeen counted meetings on the other. Each side has its file, and each file opens when convenient.

Tuesday ends, and Wednesday will show if the office returns to routine, if the court appearance is confirmed, and if the two days served any purpose beyond feeding headlines. How many Mondays of personal leave can a Prime Minister afford before the break becomes the story?