Corruption and bailout ignite Spain’s election as Pedro Sanchez rows with PM Rajoy

A debate before Sunday’s Spanish general election exploded into an angry row on Monday night when the opposition leader accused prime minister Mariano Rajoy of not being a “decent” man and said he should have quit over a corruption scandal in his party.

The humdrum election campaign burst into drama when Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez attacked Rajoy over alleged high-level corruption and accused him of lying over his government’s economic record.

A red-faced Rajoy angrily rejected his charges. “If you continue to be prime minister, the cost for our democracy... will be enormous, because the prime minister, Mr Rajoy, has to be a decent person and you are not,” said Sanchez in a televised debate watched by millions.