Sexual abuse allegations rock Spain's ruling coalition

By David Latona

MADRID (Reuters) - A leading figure from the junior partner in Spain's minority government is under investigation following accusations of sexual abuse, officials said on Friday, a day after he suddenly resigned in a blow to the fragile coalition.

In a letter posted on X on Thursday, Inigo Errejon, the main spokesperson of leftist platform Sumar, said he was leaving politics. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.

On Tuesday, an anonymous account on social media had accused a "well-known Madrid-based politician" of "psychological abuse", "gaslighting" and "humiliating sex practices".

After Errejon announced his resignation, actress and TV presenter Elisa Mouliaa wrote on X: "I'm a victim of sexual abuse by Inigo Errejon and want to denounce it".

Interior Ministry sources said on Friday that a police complaint had been filed against Errejon.

Errejon's X post did not refer to the allegations. He explained that his decision to resign was motivated in part by the fact that life in the public eye had led to a "toxic subjectivity that patriarchy multiplies in the case of men".

Sumar, which championed feminism, has already faced a sharp decline in support in regional and European elections that prompted its leader, Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz, to step aside from her party leadership position in June.

The government would be vulnerable in any vote of confidence because it relies on backing from smaller parties to approve any legislation. It faces pressure from both left and right and passage of this year's budget appears imperilled by their competing demands.

The scandal comes amid a growing push against gender-based abuses of power in a country that last year saw the downfall of Spanish soccer chief Luis Rubiales for publicly kissing national team player Jenni Hermoso on the lips, which she said was non-consensual. Rubiales insists there was consent and the case has yet to be decided by the High Court.

Errejon, 40, had been a leading figure in Spanish politics for more than a decade after co-founding the far-left Podemos before forming the splinter party Mas Pais, which now belongs to the Sumar alliance.

Sumar said it had opened an investigation after several X users named him under the anonymous account shared by journalist Cristina Fallaras, who later said he was the subject of the allegations.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday expressed support for women who suffer abuse but stressed that he still trusted Diaz and Sumar, "which has done and is doing a lot for women's progress".

The opposition People's Party called on Diaz to clarify when she had first became aware of the allegations against Errejon, who had been poised to become her successor as Sumar leader.

(Reporting by David Latona; Additional reporting by Emma Pinedo; Editing by Charlie Devereux and Philippa Fletcher)