Íñigo Errejón, one of the founders of Spain’s left-wing Podemos party, has quit politics and his post as spokesman for the Sumar left-wing umbrella group – the Spanish government’s main coalition partner led by Yolanda Díaz – following accusations of gender-based violence.
As it emerged this week that there are at least four accusations from different women (who so far remain anonymous) of gender-based ‘psychological abuse’, sexual aggression and harassment against him, Errejón (main image) said he was quitting politics due to the strain on his ‘physical and mental health’.
Spanish media has reported that Errejón is now under police investigation over allegations of sexual attacks against an actress and TV presenter, Elisa Mouliaá.
Announcing his resignation in a message posted on X (Twitter), Errejón did not mention the accusations yet suggested his ‘mistakes’ were down to working in the ‘neo-liberal’ environment of politics, which he said ‘generates a toxic subjectivity, which, in the case of men, is multiplied by patriarchy’.
The allegations against Errejón have dealt a blow to the government of Pedro Sánchez, the socialist (PSOE) prime minister, who has put the defence of the feminist movement in Spain at the height of his policies. They have also prompted accusations of hypocrisy against the left-wing Podemos and Sumar parties, as it emerged that sexual harassment allegations were first made against Errejón years ago.
The main opposition, the right-wing People’s Party (PP), has accused Yolanda Díaz of covering up the allegations and demanded she explain how long she had known about them.
‘The government is working towards a feminist Spain where women have the same rights, the same opportunities and the same freedom and security as men,’ Sánchez wrote on X (Twitter). ‘I fully condemn those who threaten this project of equality. All my support to women who suffer harassment and abuse. And all my confidence in the deputy prime minister Yolanda Díaz and Sumar, an organisation that has done and is doing a lot for the progress of women.’
In her complaint against Errejón, according to El Pais, Mouliaá alleged that he accosted her at a party three years ago and took her into a room, locked the door and touched her several times without her consent before exposing his penis. Afterwards, she said that they went by car to Errejón’s home and there he tried to have sex with her against her will.
Mouliáa is the first to publicly accuse Errejón. ‘Hello, I am a victim of sexual harassment by Íñigo Errejón and I want to denounce it,’ she simply wrote on X (Twitter) – see below – as well as tagging some journalists and the EFE news agency. She later told a radio station she had not made the allegations public before ‘because of fear, because of who Errejón was, because of the power of politics’.
The Errejón scandal began last Tuesday, when a journalist posted on social media the testimony of an anonymous woman who, although she did not name him, claimed to have suffered sexual violence from ‘a politician who lives in Madrid’. The journalist claimed to have received the testimony of at least 11 other women who also described alleged episodes of ‘abuse of power and psychological mistreatment’ by the politician.
Errejón was a founding member of Podemos, which he quit for Sumar. Both parties have lost support in recent years. One of the leading politicians of the populist left in Spain, Errejón was a prominent critic of Luis Rubiales, who resigned as head of Spain’s football federation after forcibly kissing a player from the national women’s team.
Hola, yo soy víctima de acoso sexual por parte de Iñigo Errejon y quiero denunciarlo. @RamonEspinar @telediario_tve @laSextaTV @EFEnoticias @cristina_pardo
— Elisa Mouliaá (@ElisaMouliaa) October 24, 2024
— Íñigo Errejón (@ierrejon) October 24, 2024
🔴 https://t.co/8n4uIcKTRR ha podido hablar con la actriz y presentadora Elisa Mouliaá. Asegura que ha denunciado al exdiputado de Sumar, que tiene pruebas y que hay testigos de que Errejón la acosó sexualmente
▶️ https://t.co/LiB82u9vRD pic.twitter.com/krHxFvVxxu
— Telediarios de TVE (@telediario_tve) October 24, 2024
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