Senior Spanish MP accused of sexual abuse

Íñigo Errejón, a spokesman for the hard-Left Sumar alliance, has been accused of sexual harassment by dozens of women

Spain’s deputy prime minister, Yolanda Díaz, has apologised for her party’s delay in dealing with a senior MP who resigned last week amid multiple sexual assault allegations.
In a scandal that has rocked Spanish Left-wing politics, Íñigo Errejón, spokesman for Ms Díaz’s hard-Left Sumar formation, was accused by actress and TV presenter Elisa Mouliaá of sexual aggression and harassment.
Mouliaá‘s complaint followed claims made online by over a dozen anonymous women that the 40-year-old was a serial perpetrator of “psychological abuse”, “gaslighting” and “humiliating sex practices”.
Mr Errejón, who was tipped as the next Sumar leader, resigned last Thursday hours before the party’s leadership moved to strip him of his post.
Spanish police confirmed on Friday they had opened an investigation into the case.
Ms Díaz admitted that her party had been “late” in uncovering Mr Errejón’s behaviour while attempting to scotch claims there had been a cover-up.
“As feminism has shown over recent days, there will be no impunity – no matter who it is, what it’s called and who has to fall,” she said after a meeting with MPs on Monday afternoon.
“If I’d known early about such serious acts earlier, I would have acted in exactly the same way,” Ms Díaz said.
Sumar, a coalition of Left-wing groups and the junior partner in prime minister Pedro Sánchez’s socialist government, was already in crisis after Ms Díaz resigned as leader following a poor showing in regional and European elections. No new leader has been appointed.
Spain’s conservative opposition People’s Party (PP) has accused Ms Díaz of being aware of the alleged incidents and trying to protect her choice of party spokesman.
“It seems that it was an open secret in Left-wing circles. They knew about it; they covered it up; they consented to it,” said PP MP Noelia Núñez.
PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo said Mr Sánchez’s government, already rocked by corruption affairs, was even closer to falling as it “boiled in its own hypocrisy”.
Suspicions that Sunar leaders were aware of allegations followed reports online last year that Mr Errejón had groped a woman’s bottom without her permission at a beachside nightclub.
The victim posted messages about the incident online, but later removed them after speaking to another member of Mr Errejón’s own Más Madrid party.
Ms Díaz said she had been aware of a tweet concerning that alleged incident but understood the matter had already been looked into.
Mr Errejón had frequently offered public support for feminist causes and showed solidarity with victims of sexual abuse.
According to Ms Mouliaá’s police complaint, Mr Errejón bullied her on what was their first date, allegedly forcing her into a locked room at a party and trying to have sex with her before accepting that she did not consent.
In his resignation letter, Mr Errejón talked about having fallen into what he called a “toxic subjectivity” that had affected his relationships with party colleagues, friends and partners.
He has not commented on the specific accusations against him.
Cristina Fallarás, an activist who started a Spain’s version of #MeToo in 2018 called #Cuentalo (Tell the story), said she had received more than a dozen reports by women against Mr Errejón.
Ms Fallarás added that her Instagram account had received hundreds more claims, affecting politicians across several parties.