Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is facing a long and difficult summer as corruption cases involving his brother, his wife and his predecessor José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero come before judges over the coming days and weeks.The socialist leader – who took power eight years ago after using a vote of no confidence to topple the corruption-mired government of the conservative People’s party (PP) – has insisted there has been no wrongdoing by his family. He has also defended Zapatero and his right to the presumption of innocence.But with two of his former right-hand men also accused of corruption and his former attorney general banned from his post for two years after being found guilty of leaking confidential information, Sánchez has a lot to contend with ahead of next year’s general election. Here’s a rundown of the cases.What’s going on with Sánchez’s brother?The prime minister’s younger brother, David Sánchez, will go on trial in the south-west region of Extremadura on Thursday, accused of influence peddling and misuse of public office. Ten other people face the same charges.The case springs from a complaint brought by Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), a self-styled trade union with far-right links that has a long history of using the courts to pursue those it deems to pose a threat to Spain’s democratic interests. According to the complaint, David Sánchez was handed a bespoke job by the socialist-led council of the south-western city of Badajoz in July 2017, when his brother was the national leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) but not yet prime minister.David Sánchez, who denies the charges, faces a three-year prison term if found guilty.And what about his wife?The prime minister’s wife, Begoña Gómez, has also found herself in court as the result of a complaint brought by Manos Limpias. Last month, a judge in Madrid charged Gómez with embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption in business dealings and misappropriation of funds at the end of a two-year investigation.She has been accused of using her influence as the wife of the prime minister to secure and manage a post at Madrid’s Complutense University, and of using public resources and personal connections to further her private interests.The judge, Juan Carlos Peinado, has also charged Gómez’s personal assistant, Cristina Álvarez, and a businessman, Juan Carlos Barrabés, in connection with the case. All the accused have denied wrongdoing. Gómez is due to appear before Peinado at a preliminary hearing on 9 June.Why is Zapatero under investigation?Zapatero, who was prime minister from 2004 to 2011 – and who remains a totemic figure for the Spanish left – has been placed under investigation for alleged influence peddling and other offences by a judge examining the state bailout of a Venezuela-linked airline during the Covid pandemic.The latest investigation is part of an inquiry into the €53m (£46m) state rescue of the Spanish airline Plus Ultra in March 2021. Prosecutors are examining whether the company made “inadequate use” of the public funds the government approved for the bailout, while anti-corruption police are investigating whether the airline used the rescue money to launder funds from Venezuela through France, Switzerland and Spain.According to the investigating judge, Zapatero is alleged to have overseen “a hierarchical structure of influence peddling”, whose purpose was “to obtain economic benefits through intermediation and the exercise of influence before public bodies in favour of third parties, mainly Plus Ultra”.Zapatero has insisted on his innocence and stated his willingness to cooperate with the investigation. He is scheduled to give evidence before Spain’s highest criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, on 17 and 18 June.“I’d like to reaffirm that all my public and private activity has always been conducted with absolute respect for the law,” he said last week, adding he had never carried out “any action” relating to the airline’s bailout.How has the prime minister reacted to all this?When news broke in April 2024 that his wife had been placed under investigation, Sánchez cancelled his public duties for five days while he mulled his political future. He accused his political and media enemies of launching a “harassment and bullying operation” against his family, but decided to remain in office.He has maintained that his wife and his brother are the victims of politically motivated smear campaigns, and has said: “The truth will come out in the end. My brother and my wife are innocent.” Sánchez has also openly questioned the independence of some members of Spain’s judiciary. “There’s no doubt that there are judges doing politics and there are politicians trying to do justice,” he said in a TV interview last September.He has backed Zapatero as further details have emerged about the case, saying on Wednesday that he saw “no reason” to withdraw his support for his predecessor.What about the other corruption cases involving his administration?In June last year, Sánchez ordered Santos Cerdán, the PSOE’s organisational secretary and his right-hand man, to resign after a supreme court judge found “firm evidence” of his possible involvement in taking kickbacks on public construction contracts. Cerdán has denied any wrongdoing.Cerdán’s case is tied to those of two other men, both of whom were once close to Sánchez. The former transport minister José Luis Ábalos is accused – along with his former aide Koldo García and the businessman Víctor de Aldama – of taking kickbacks on public contracts for sanitary equipment during the Covid pandemic. Ábalos and García, who deny all charges, are facing sentences of 24 years and 19 years respectively while Aldama, who has already admitted to his part in the alleged scheme, faces a seven-year sentence.On Wednesday, anti-corruption police officers investigating an alleged plot to destabilise judicial proceedings against the socialist party – or the government – entered the PSOE’s Madrid headquarters in pursuit of documents. The presiding judge has said Cerdán was among those being investigated for possible offences including misuse of office, influence peddling, bribery and inducement to false testimony.Anything else?In November last year, Spain’s top prosecutor was banned from his post for two years after being found guilty of leaking confidential information about a tax case involving a businessman who is the boyfriend of a prominent rightwing politician.Álvaro García Ortiz, who had served as attorney general since 2022, was also fined €7,300 (£6,428), and ordered to pay €10,000 in damages to the businessman, Alberto González Amador, whose partner is Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the populist PP leader of the Madrid region.García Ortiz had insisted that he had neither leaked the information nor had it leaked, and his defence had said there was “absolutely no evidence” that he was the source of the leak. Journalists who were called to give evidence also denied that the attorney general had fed them the information. The saga was a blow to Sánchez, whose government had proposed García Ortiz for the job.What’s next for Sánchez and the PSOE?In a statement released after Wednesday’s searches at its HQ, the PSOE said it would “always maintain a position of maximum collaboration with the justice system and of absolute respect for judicial actions”. Sánchez, meanwhile, has dismissed calls for an early general election, arguing Spain needs “stability”.But his opponents, who are once again scenting blood, are pushing for next year’s election to be brought forward. “The only choice left is to let the Spanish people have their say right now,” the PP leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, said on Wednesday. “We can’t put up with this any more.”Santiago Abascal, the leader of the far-right Vox party, said: “Not a week, not a day, not an hour goes by without new details emerging about the mafia that governs Spain … They must be stopped and taken to court.”