Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivered a stinging retort to Vox leader Santiago Abascal on Wednesday, declaring: ‘I may be a dog, but (at least) I don’t have an owner.’

The remark came during a fiery exchange in Congress as Sanchez turned accusations of foreign influence back on the hard-right leader.

Abascal had attacked the PM over his government’s alleged dependence on outside interests, prompting Sanchez to accuse the Vox leader of spreading ‘lies and disinformation’.

But it was Sanchez’s reference to a long-running insult used against him by political opponents that produced the sharpest moment of the session.

‘You have called me an autocrat, a dictator, they even call me a dog,’ Sanchez told Abascal.

He added: ‘Unlike you, I may be a dog, but I don’t have an owner.’

The comment played on the Spanish expression perro con amo – effectively accusing Abascal of being beholden to outside interests.

Moments earlier, Sanchez had told him: ‘It’s quite something that, besides all these lies and disinformation, you make that accusation against me when, if anyone is walking around with a leash around his neck, it is precisely you.’

The prime minister did not specify an alleged ‘owner’ in the remarks provided, but used the attack to insist that his government answers to no external power.

‘This government does not accept blackmail from any party, any country or, of course, any other power,’ he said.

‘A threat to democracy’

The exchange became increasingly hostile as Sanchez accused Abascal of contributing little to Spanish politics beyond ‘hatred, insults and xenophobia.’

‘I understand that for some people you are a partner, but it is clear that you and your party are a threat to democracy in Spain,’ he told the Vox leader.

It came after Abascal, while Sanchez was speaking, held up a stack of A4 sheets of paper, each with a letter on them.

He dropped each sheet to reveal the next letter, spelling out the word ‘Traidor’ (traitor).

Sanchez also used the confrontation to announce that reports covering the Ceuta crisis between July 1 and August 1 would be published on Wednesday.

He said the documents would allow Spaniards to know ‘exactly what happened’, while rejecting accusations concerning the government’s relationship with Morocco.

Sanchez tells Feijoo: ‘We’ll beat you again’

The prime minister also clashed with PP leader Alberto Nuñez Feijoo during Wednesday’s government control session.

Sanchez insisted that Spain’s next general election will take place in 2027, before issuing a direct challenge to the opposition leader.

‘We’ll see you at the ballot box and we’ll beat you again,’ he said.

Sanchez accused PP and Vox of seeking to restrict the voting rights of thousands of Spanish citizens abroad, arguing that descendants of Spaniards forced into exile should not be deprived of one of their fundamental citizenship rights.

He also defended his government’s record on education, claiming central government education spending had increased from €3.2billion under the previous PP administration to more than €6billion.

Sanchez said scholarship spending had risen by more than €1billion and that more than €400million was being allocated to cooperation with Spain’s autonomous communities.

He accused some PP-controlled regional governments of failing to spend resources made available to them.

The prime minister finished by calling on the PP to support measures concerning teachers and classroom ratios, as well as the government’s proposed ban on social media access for children under 16.