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Spain\u2019s beleaguered prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, faces a key test on Sunday when voters in the south-western region of Extremadura cast their ballots in the first major election to be held since a series of corruption<\/a> and sexual harassment allegations<\/a> enveloped his inner circle, his party and his administration.<\/p>\n Extremadura, once a stronghold of S\u00e1nchez\u2019s Spanish Socialist Workers\u2019 party (PSOE), has been in the hands of the conservative People\u2019s party (PP) since 2023, when the latter managed to form a short-lived coalition government with the far-right Vox party, despite finishing just behind the socialists.<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s snap election was called two months ago by the regional president, Mar\u00eda Guardiola, after the PSOE and her erstwhile allies in Vox voted down next year\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n Though ostensibly a regional affair, the results of Sunday\u2019s election will be felt well beyond Extremadura. Politicians and pundits will be scrutinising the poll to determine the extent of the damage that the allegations of recent weeks and months have inflicted on the PSOE, while the PP is likely to be forced, once again, to cut a deal with Vox to govern.<\/p>\n The socialist candidate, Miguel \u00c1ngel Gallardo, is facing trial on charges of influence-peddling and abuse of office, over allegations that he helped create a tailormade job for the prime minister\u2019s brother, David S\u00e1nchez, eight years ago. The trial springs from a complaint made by Manos Limpias<\/em> (Clean Hands), a self-styled trade union with far-right links that has a long history of using the courts to pursue those it deems detrimental to Spain\u2019s democratic interests.<\/p>\n Gallardo and David S\u00e1nchez \u2013 who faces the same charges \u2013 have both denied any wrongdoing. The case is one of many that have dented the prime minister, who came to power in 2018 promising an end to corruption.<\/p>\n Pedro S\u00e1nchez\u2019s wife, Bego\u00f1a G\u00f3mez, has been accused of using her influence to secure sponsors for a university master\u2019s degree course she ran and of using state funds to pay her assistant for help with personal matters. She has denied any wrongdoing, and the current judicial investigation is also the result of a complaint from Manos Limpias<\/em>.<\/p>\n