Intimidated Officials and Prostitutes in the Background: The Other Side of the Sánchez Government
The Parador de Teruel: The Scene of a Private Party?
On September 15, 2020, Pilar Alegría, then the Government Delegate in Aragon, stayed at the Parador de Teruel during an official visit led by then-Minister José Luis Ábalos. According to the official version, the stay was part of a series of institutional activities related to the improvement of the Zaragoza-Teruel-Sagunto railway line.
Cadena SER, ElHuffPost, El País, heraldo.es
However, media outlets such as Ok Diario and Diario de Teruel published reports linking that night to a private party that allegedly included the presence of prostitutes and alcohol consumption. These versions were categorically denied by Alegría, who apparently did sleep in Teruel that night. He provided receipts and testimonies confirming his presence at the inn. He says he did not witness any irregular behavior. Of course, logically, if you participate, it doesn’t seem like irregular behavior to you.
El País, heraldo.es
The director of the inn also denied the existence of inappropriate events, which is logical, considering that these people belong to the highest caste in the government. No police reports were filed to corroborate the accusations we repeat. Obviously, if everyone was enjoying themselves, there is no reason to call the police. Alegría emphasized that, in a small city like Teruel, any incident of that magnitude would have been public knowledge, and it was, so much so that it remains volatile news today. El País, Cadena SER,
🧾 The threat to public employees
One of the most controversial aspects of this episode was the complaint by Teruel Mayor Emma Buj, who claimed that the government sent letters to Parador employees warning them of possible dismissal if they revealed information about the alleged party. This accusation was supported by other members of the Popular Party, who believed the government was trying to silence potential witnesses.
heraldo.es, ESdiario, Europa Press.
For its part, the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) has denied these claims, apparently to protect its civil servants, calling them unfounded and part of a disinformation strategy to which we are accustomed. Pilar Alegría has insisted that there is no evidence to support the accusations and has urged the opposition to present concrete evidence if they have it, and it is very possible that it will not appear now after allegedly threatening the employees who were at the party that day.
👩💼 The Sexist Harassment Campaign
After the accusations were released, Pilar Alegría became the target of a wave of sexist insults on social media. The minister reported receiving messages calling her a “whore,” “bitch,” and other derogatory epithets, urging her to engage in explicit sexual behavior.
Europa Press, El HuffPost, Diario Público, El Español, diariodeteruel.es.
Alegría described these attacks as “repugnant and intolerable” and noted that they are a manifestation of the structural machismo that persists in Spanish politics. She criticized the lukewarm nature of some institutional responses and emphasized the need for a firm and unambiguous condemnation of this type of behavior, with which we truly agree. The case must be investigated to the fullest extent, and if someone is lying, they must be severely punished for that alone. The full weight of the law must then be applied if other violations are discovered.
El Español, diariodeteruel.es, okdiario.com
🧭 The ideological background
Beyond the specific facts, this episode highlights the ideological tensions running through Spanish politics. On the one hand, the Popular Party has used the case to question the morality and transparency of the government, while the PSOE has defended the integrity of its members and denounced a campaign of harassment and misinformation that it refuses to investigate.
El Español
Furthermore, the gender dimension cannot be ignored. According to them, political gender violence has manifested itself in this case through sexist attacks that seek to delegitimize a woman in the exercise of power, without taking into account that she is a public employee, who must maintain composure at all times. Alegría has pointed out that these attacks affect not only her, but all the women who participate in Avalos’ meetings, in political and public life.
The Teruel Parador case is a clear example of how an incident can escalate into a major political scandal. Accusations that, after pressuring witnesses, become unsubstantiated accusations, threats against public employees to keep them from telling the truth, and the harassment campaign have exposed the vulnerabilities of the Spanish political system in the face of truth and are based on gender-based violence.
Pilar Alegría has responded, attempting to defend her presumed honor by getting tangled up in her own filth, and has pointed out the need for unanimous condemnation of sexist behavior in politics, only to distract citizens from the fact that all public employees must answer for their moral actions, both inside and outside of work hours. This episode should serve as a reminder that the fight for equality and justice is not without challenges, but also that transparency and courage are powerful tools for addressing them. Let us hope, for the sake of Spain and the European Economic Community, that all these cases are clarified as soon as possible. Pilar Alegria’s appointment as education minister came approximately one year and five months after the events at the Parador de Teruel, which took place in September 2020. She defends it by saying, “She has never sat at the foot of a government minister’s bed.”
