Calls are growing for a vote of no confidence in Pedro Sanchez’s government amid the emerging corruption probe involving former Socialist prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Spain’s opposition party – Partido Popular (PP) – believes the mounting scandal could prove fatal for the ruling PSOE, but they’re not going to pull the trigger just yet.

In Congress on Wednesday, PP leader Alberto Nuñez Feijoo launched one of his strongest attacks yet on Sanchez.

It followed the shock decision by Spain’s National Court to formally investigate Zapatero over the controversial €53million Plus Ultra airline bailout.

Feijoo repeatedly linked Sanchez politically to the case, accusing the socialist government of being engulfed in corruption scandals.

But despite growing pressure from conservative voters and repeated public calls for fresh elections, Feijoo deliberately stopped short of announcing a no-confidence motion.

Instead, the PP leader hinted that his party is waiting for the political crisis to deepen further before making its move.

‘I will fulfil my duty and I will do everything possible to achieve a change of government when I believe the time has come,’ Feijoo told reporters after the parliamentary session.

Behind the scenes, senior figures within Partido Popular reportedly believe the Zapatero investigation is only the beginning and expect the scandal to continue escalating over the coming weeks and months.

The strategy emerging inside the PP is to allow Sanchez’s government to weaken under the weight of ongoing investigations, internal pressure and political damage rather than risk a failed parliamentary gamble too early.

Party insiders reportedly believe time is now working in their favour.

While PSOE figures have attempted to defend Zapatero by appealing to the presumption of innocence, the opposition sees the investigation as politically devastating because of the former prime minister’s close links to Sanchez and his continued influence inside socialist circles.

The situation is particularly delicate because Sanchez’s government is already facing multiple political crises, including the wider Koldo corruption affair and growing tensions with coalition allies.

For now, Feijoo’s team appears reluctant to open formal negotiations with key nationalist parties such as Junts or the PNV over a possible no-confidence vote.

According to sources close to the PP leadership, the party does not yet believe the parliamentary numbers are guaranteed and wants to avoid ‘biting the bullet too early’.

Privately, senior conservatives reportedly believe Sanchez remaining in office longer may actually benefit the opposition politically as more damaging revelations emerge.

‘This has only just begun,’ party figures told Spanish media.

The Zapatero investigation has already plunged Spain into uncharted territory after the former socialist leader became the first ex-prime minister of Spain’s democratic era to be formally investigated in a corruption-related case.

Judge Jose Luis Calama alleges Zapatero led an organised influence-peddling network linked to the Plus Ultra bailout, claims the former prime minister strongly denies.

The scandal has now become one of the biggest political threats Sanchez has faced since returning to power.