After seven and a half years at the helm of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez's grip on power has significantly weakened. This decline should draw particular attention from the Moroccan state and the Moroccan community residing in Spain (MRE), as the weakening of the socialists directly benefits the far right. DR ‹ › In Spain, the PSOE's heavy defeat in the early regional elections in Extremadura on December 21 could mark a decisive turning point. Pedro Sánchez's party lost nearly 15% of the vote compared with the May 2023 elections, a major setback that has reignited speculation about a possible exit of the head of government from the Moncloa Palace. His left-wing allies, Sumar and Podemos, who have backed successive Sánchez governments since June 1, 2018, were among the first to call on him to «acknowledge reality» and «propose political solutions» to what they describe as a deepening crisis within the PSOE. The situation has been further aggravated by the imprisonment of two close Sánchez allies, MPs Santos Cerdán and José Ábalos, both accused of corruption. Another key parliamentary partner, the Catalan nationalists of Junts, heirs to Convergència i Unió, have seized on the Extremadura result to further weaken the executive. According to them, the PSOE's defeat exposes the government's «absolute fragility». Relations between Junts and the Socialists now appear close to rupture. The party's seven MPs could either back a motion of no confidence or abstain in a critical vote, a move that would cost the government its majority in the Congress of Deputies. Vox, the big winner of December 21 The setback has also intensified pressure from the People's Party (PP) for early general elections, a demand its leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, repeats relentlessly during weekly parliamentary plenary sessions. «Extremadura could mark the beginning of the end of the political decline Spain is experiencing», he declared the day after his candidate's victory, despite falling short of an outright majority. Yet the clear winner of the December 21 vote is Vox. Securing 17% of the vote and 11 seats in the regional parliament, the far-right party now holds the balance of power in Extremadura. The PP is thus forced to accommodate Vox's demands, a scenario that could be replicated at the national level should early general elections be called. If confirmed in the upcoming regional elections scheduled for 2026, in Aragon (February 8), Castile and León (March 15), and Andalusia (June), Vox's rise could have direct repercussions for Morocco. Several sensitive issues would be at stake, including the Sahara, migration management, agricultural exports, and territorial claims over Ceuta, Melilla, and the islets in the western Mediterranean. Added to this are questions surrounding maritime borders with the Canary Islands and the future of relations between Rabat and the European Parliament. The Moroccan community in Spain could also be directly affected by a further breakthrough of Vox, both regionally and nationally. The racist violence that erupted last July in the region of Murcia stands as a troubling warning, highlighting the tangible risks posed by the normalization of far-right rhetoric and practices within Spain's political landscape.
