Feijóo breaks his silence on Montoro: "Whatever needs to be investigated, let it be investigated."

BarcelonaAlberto Núñez Feijóo breaks his silence 48 hours after the Montoro case broke. Besieged by the PSOE's offensive, which accused him of not making a move after the the indictment of the former Minister of Finance, the leader of the PP has reacted with a message on the social network X: "What needs to be investigated, let it be investigated." Feijóo assures that this is his "criteria" on corruption regardless of who it affects and, in a dart to the socialists for the alleged plots that affect them, adds: "I am not going to talk about persecution of judges or pseudo-media."

But the reality is that the reaction has taken two days and, until now, the popular ones had limited themselves to disassociating the party from the alleged maneuvers of Montoro and his team, during the Rajoy government, to promote legislative changes that benefit companies. TheFormer Treasury Secretary resigned from the party yesterday, which had merely opened an "information procedure" related to the case. The conservatives, in fact, focused on emphasizing that Montoro left the Spanish government "more than seven years ago" and that he "has no working ties with Feijóo's team or the current PP."

But, according to information fromThe IndependentFeijóo turned to members of former minister Montoro's team for advice two years ago. Among the most prominent names is one of those indicted by Tarragona's investigating court number 2, former Secretary of State for Finance Miguel Ferré, who held a "decisive position" in the plot, according to the judge who charged him. Furthermore, in the last renewal of the Popular Party leadership, the party leader appointed Alberto Nadal as deputy secretary of economy. Nadal was Secretary of State for Budgets at the end of Montoro's term, although he is not currently among those indicted by the Tarragona judge.

Feijóo's statement, however, comes on the same day that new information about the case has emerged, suggesting that Montoro would have received confidential information from the Tax Agency regarding politicians, celebrities, and journalists. He also claimed that payments to his Economic Team office, through which companies allegedly tried to influence the Ministry of Finance, had come from electricity and renewable energy companies, in addition to the gas companies already mentioned by the judge. And he even warned Rajoy's ministers that the consultancy founded by Montoro was acting as a lobbyist.

For the PSOE, which has seen this as an opportunity to counterattack after the barrage of accusations surrounding the Cerdán case, the PP leader's words on Thursday are not enough. "That's the hypocrisy we have in this country. When there's a case of corruption that affects our community, we apologize and demand public accountability, we act, and expel people from the party. And when there's a case of systemic corruption, [in the PP] they don't even know the people accused," complained Vice President María Jesús Feijóo.

Repercussions for the Sánchez government

However, the Montoro case has already claimed a victim within Pedro Sánchez's current government. This Friday, the Ministry of Finance dismissed the Deputy Director General of Local Taxes, Óscar del Amo, who is a defendant in the case. The judge's ruling states that del Amo "actively participated in the events under investigation" and that he "held one of the crucial positions in ensuring that the regulations reflected the demands agreed upon with the gas companies, as evidenced by the emails seized during the investigation."