00:00Cuntz per Catalunya increased the immense pressure on Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday,
00:04demanding that he resign as Prime Minister and that Congress elect a new head of government to preserve the legislature.
00:11The sharp demand from the Catalan separatists came during a high-stakes debate
00:15over the legal cases affecting the President's inner circle, completely reshaping the political landscape.
00:22Sánchez appeared before a tense Congress of deputies on Wednesday to make his defense against a wave of corruption allegations.
00:28The high-stakes appearance followed a landmark Supreme Court ruling that handed a 24-year prison sentence
00:34to his former transport minister, José Luis Ábalos.
00:38Sánchez opened his 32-minute address by acknowledging that the national public debate
00:42has been completely flooded with judicial news, though he rejected claims of structural wrongdoing.
00:48Porque conviene saber que detrás de este cúmulo de titulares, de filtraciones, de especulaciones,
00:54hay tres cuestiones distintas. Tres cuestiones de naturaleza y de escala diferentes.
01:01Que, por cierto, determinados actores políticos y mediáticos están tratando de mezclar, para equiparar
01:07y con ello confundir a la gente, crear una sensación de corrupción generalizada que, ya les digo, señorías, no existe.
01:15Addressing the influence-peddling cases involving his brother David and his wife Begona Gómez,
01:20who was recently ordered to face trial and surrender her passport,
01:24Sánchez claimed the judicial files are built entirely on unfounded accusations
01:29and a coordinated pattern of personal harassment.
01:34However, conservative opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijo framed the prime minister
01:39as the absolute epicenter of what he termed a corrupting political nexus.
01:44You bear all the political responsibility, Feijo said,
01:47reminding that Sánchez initially rose to power in 2018 on an anti-corruption platform
01:52spearheaded by the now convicted Avalos.
01:55The opposition leader declared he would table an immediate motion of no confidence.
