The Complutense sanctions Juan Carlos Monedero with one year without teaching for sexist harassment

The Complutense University of Madrid has sanctioned Juan Carlos Monedero with a one-year suspension from duties after concluding the disciplinary proceedings opened for sexist harassment of students. The co-founder of Podemos and Political Science professor is suspended from teaching, although part of the sanction has already been served because the university imposed six months of precautionary suspension during the processing of the procedure.

The resolution considers a very serious offense to be proven within the framework of the university protocol against sexual and sexist harassment. The proceedings began in 2025 following a student's complaint and proceeded through the Complutense's internal channels after the Prosecutor's Office closed the criminal part for not finding a crime. The judicial dismissal did not close the case within the university, which has ended up imposing an administrative sanction.

Among the facts attributed to Monedero are sexist and humiliating comments towards female students in the classroom. Various media have reported expressions such as "you have the face of a bitch" or references to students who wanted to be mothers as "dairy cows." The Prosecutor's Office did not see sufficient criminal basis, but it did qualify some behaviors as improper and morally reprehensible.

The sanction does not imply definitive expulsion from the university. In practice, Monedero must remain suspended from his duties for another six months, as the Complutense counts the period of preventive suspension already served. The UCM has not offered details of the file and refers to data protection regulations for not confirming personal data of third parties.

Monedero denies the facts and takes the case to court

Monedero has reacted with a statement issued by his lawyer and with a message on X. He denies having committed the behaviors for which he has been sanctioned and assures that he has judicialized the file so that a court can determine whether the Complutense's actions comply with the law.

“Have I engaged in any of the behaviors for which I have been sanctioned? NO. Absolutely not,” wrote the co-founder of Podemos. He also stated that he will win the case “as in the other twenty previous lawsuits and trials” and closed his reaction with a phrase of political resistance: “To be silent is not my place in the world.”

The defense argues that the university procedure is “plagued with violations of fundamental and procedural rights and guarantees.” It also points to a political motivation for the complaint, noting that the student who activated the file would be a local PP militant linked to an association that had requested Monedero's expulsion for his conferences in Venezuela.

The shadow over Podemos

The case also affects the political space that Monedero helped found. Podemos had already received internal warnings about inappropriate behavior by the professor in party settings, although the party defended that it removed him from organic responsibilities after learning of these complaints. The episode once again places the purple left before a particularly sensitive issue for its own feminist discourse: how to respond when complaints affect historical figures of the organization.

The Somosaguas Violet Point recalled this Tuesday that harassment in educational spaces is a first-order problem and that minimizing it increases the harm to those who report it. On a campus like Políticas, a symbol of origin for Podemos and for much of Monedero's public career, the sanction leaves a mark difficult to separate from the debate on power, classrooms, and institutional credibility in the face of harassment complaints.