Pedro Sánchez arrived at a Harvard forum to discuss the threat posed by tech oligarchs, but faced questions about corruption, Pegasus and Venezuela. The discussion quickly moved from artificial intelligence to the most disputed issues surrounding his government. Students questioned him about his party and family, challenged his decisions on the Sáhara Occidental, and raised José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's position on Venezuela.
The toughest questions concerned corruption cases linked to the PSOE and the government. Sánchez acknowledged that both had faced corruption cases and said the response had been effective. He rejected the suggestion that the investigations involving his wife, Begoña Gómez, and his brother, David Sánchez, should be called corruption cases or scandals. El País and other Spanish media, citing court decisions, reported that in September 2026 Begoña Gómez's case moved from the investigation stage to oral proceedings. Judge Juan Carlos Peinado sent it to trial on charges of influence peddling and embezzlement.
He described those matters as political attacks and accused the opposition and some far-right associations of crossing red lines. He also said the personal pressure was difficult to endure. Sánchez objected to the student treating his wife and brother as guilty. Neither, he said, had been shown to be responsible.
The dispute also includes a judicial episode involving David Sánchez's work in the province of Badajoz. Opposition parties have presented it as part of wider allegations involving the prime minister's family.
That exchange altered the forum's course.
For roughly 40 minutes, Sánchez had spoken about regulating social networks and artificial intelligence. The students' questions turned the rest of the forum into a direct challenge over Spain's domestic and foreign policy. Sánchez had argued that democratic institutions must control technologies capable of improving themselves. Humanity's future, he said, should not be left to a small group of billionaires. The Audiencia Nacional and Spanish media reported that Pedro Sánchez's phone and the phones of several ministers were infected with Pegasus. A September 2026 investigation had still not identified a suspect, with a lack of cooperation from the Israeli side cited among the reasons.
He drew a similar line when asked about Pegasus. Sánchez confirmed that his phone had been hacked. Fernando Grande-Marlaska's phone was also affected. The same was true of Margarita Robles and Arancha González Laya. The government reported the attacks to the Audiencia Nacional, but does not know who carried them out.
El País and other Spanish outlets have reported that the intrusion itself is established. The identity of the attacker remains officially unresolved.
The student asked whether the espionage could have influenced Madrid's position on the Sáhara Occidental and Ceuta, or its relationship with Morocco. Sánchez denied that pressure from other governments had driven his decisions. He defended the policy as serving Spain's interests and said it had ended a political crisis lasting more than 15 years.
He also pointed to Morocco's support for the United Nations resolution favouring an autonomous region within Morocco in the Sáhara Occidental, alongside backing from the United States and many European countries. In 2022, Spain officially backed Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara. The decision remains one of the most disputed parts of Sánchez's foreign policy.
The student also asked about Sánchez's defence of Morocco after the migration crisis in Ceuta. Sánchez dismissed the premise as based on false news, rather than accepting it as an established fact.
Venezuela brought the final confrontation. A student described the country's continued failure to hold democratic elections and asked whether Sánchez would demand free presidential elections. The student also asked whether he would distance himself from Zapatero, whom the student linked to the Chavista regime.
Sánchez said Spain had not recognised Nicolás Maduro's electoral results and had consistently supported free elections. He said Venezuela's people must decide their own future. He did not answer the question about Zapatero.
Before the questions began, Sánchez had urged the students not to trust the promises of tech oligarchs. He referred to Sam Altman's warning that the world was right to be afraid but should trust technology companies. Sánchez said confidence without strict oversight was unacceptable.
He called for regulation. Sánchez said he was not calling for Meta's servers to be wrecked or X's headquarters to be burned. He called for limits on artificial intelligence's ability to improve itself, independent supervision and full reports on every incident.
The Harvard appearance exposed a gap between the planned subject and the questions that mattered most to the audience. Sánchez made a clear case for slowing artificial intelligence until it can be made safer. The students used the forum to test his credibility on corruption and surveillance, as well as his positions on Morocco and Venezuela.
That pressure exposed the weak point in his argument. Sánchez presented democratic oversight as the answer to powerful technologies, but became defensive when asked about the disputes closest to him. Moncloa described the proceedings involving Begoña Gómez as unfair and a form of persecution. The government also maintained that she was innocent.
The dispute remains both judicial and political. The Harvard exchange did not settle it.
