Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday that after a period of reflection about his future he had decided to continue as the country's leader.

Sanchez, in power since 2018, had shocked the nation last week when he announced in a public letter on X he was taking time out from his duties to reflect on whether it was worth carrying on as prime minister.

It followed news that a court had opened an investigation into allegations of influence peddling and corruption by his wife Begona Gomez. A separate court is considering an appeal by Madrid's prosecuting authority to dismiss the case for lack of evidence.

He insisted his wife was innocent and accused opposition leaders Alberto Nunez Feijoo of the People's Party (PP) and Santiago Abascal of the far-right Vox party of collaborating with those circulating claims against his wife.

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