Spain’s Pedro Sánchez almost saw his brother’s office benefit from millions in EU recovery funds. But following an investigation by the Spanish newspaper El Debate, the grant was withdrawn—albeit in a move that calls its legitimacy even further into question.
This is not the first time that suspicions of corruption have cast a shadow over the Sánchez administration. According to El Debate, the Badajoz Provincial Council—an elected body currently controlled by Sánchez’s socialist party—secretly awarded a contract worth €1.5 million euros to the Ópera Joven program. This public program is run by David Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, brother of the Spanish prime minister.
Sánchez’s brother, who uses the pseudonym David Azagra, has operated the music program for five years, with funding from the Extremaduran public treasury. This period roughly coincides with his brother’s time in the Spanish premiership. All EU funds distributed in this way are funneled through Spain’s central government.
According to documents published by El Debate, on November 21, 2023 the Badajoz council approved “the creation, production, organization and implementation of the Young Opera program from 2024 to 2028” . This award was put out to a competitive tendering process with a budget of €1,511,590.
Days after the expenses had been approved by the provincial government, El Debate began to publish its findings concerning the details of the grant. Subsequently, in January, the provincial body rescinded the financial injection into the opera program.
Under the €1.5 million contract, Sánchez’s brother had to produce two operas and conduct additional educational programming. Specifically, his brief was to produce a ‘main’ opera that was to be performed in Badajoz and another town in the province and then a second opera, classified as a “children’s-family” opera which had to be performed in four locations. Additionally, he had to organize several educational activities “that will be carried out in two towns or cities in the province.”
The city of Badajoz, the provincial capital, has a population of 153, 836. It is part of the autonomous community of Extremadura, the third poorest region of Spain.
According to El Debate, the chair of the provincial board, who is David Sánchez’s direct supervisor, secretly approved the opening of the tenders for the music program. The newspaper learned that earlier, in April 2023, the Ministry of Culture signed an agreement with the Badajoz Provincial Council to inject European funds into the music office of the prime minister’s brother. The first injection of EU funds into David Sánchez’s program amounted to €128,080 for the production of a single opera that, in the end, sold only €2,000 worth of tickets. Then, the provincial council tripled the budget of the program, raising it from €150,000 to €350,000, just before the last municipal elections in May 2023. David Sánchez was allowed to telework from his home in Elvas, Portugal while maintaining an office in the historic building that serves as the headquarters of the provincial governing body.
Finally, shortly after the David Sánchez lost the €1.5 million grant, El Debate discovered that he had been hired to the advisory council of the the Teatro Real in Madrid, a move coinciding with a €7 million increase in the annual contribution made to this prestigious theater by the Ministry of Culture and Sports. According to El Debate, David Sánchez was not initially listed as a member of the leadership council on the theater’s website, though the Teatro Real did confirm to the newspaper that he was now a member.
The advisor’s council is chaired by the academic writer of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) Antonio Muñoz Molina, alongside celebrated writer Mario Vargas Llosa. Other council members include artists and writers with prestigious posts in other cultural institutions. The Teatro Real told El Debate it brought David Sánchez onto the council because it “considered his opinion and experience interesting due to the programming,” and that “his main function is to “advise the theater on various issues.” The role of David’s more famous sibling was not mentioned in the selection criteria.
