Paco Salazar denies the harassment accusations: "I have always respected all my female colleagues"

MadridPaco Salazar, internally denounced within the PSOE for alleged cases of sexual and workplace harassment and sexist behavior, appeared for two hours before the Senate's Koldo García case investigation committee. The PP used its absolute majority in the Upper House to summon him three days before the elections in Aragon. Last July, Salazar resigned from his positions on the PSOE's Executive Committee and as institutional coordinator for the Spanish Prime Minister's Office after allegations against him by women came to light. This issue, however, was only touched upon tangentially during the hearing, which focused primarily on the PSOE primaries, his relationship with José Luis Ábalos, Koldo García, and Santos Cerdán, and his role as president of the Zarzuela racetrack.

The first statement regarding the harassment allegations came fifteen minutes after the start of the hearing: "I have always respected all the female colleagues I have worked with, both as professionals and as women," he affirmed. He justified his resignation from his responsibilities at Moncloa Palace and the PSOE headquarters on Ferraz Street for the sake of his family. "It was the healthiest thing to do," he added. Later, he asserted that no one from the PSOE or Moncloa Palace asked him to back down and insisted that he made "absolutely no agreement with anyone" in this regard.

However, he complained that the allegations against him and his subsequent "private life" are not subject to the committee's review, but the president, Eloy Suárez of the People's Party, granted the senators some flexibility in raising the issue. Salazar also recounted that when he met with Pilar Alegría – a photo of which was leaked and which the PP is using as a weapon against the PSOE – the then-minister and spokesperson for the Spanish government – ​​who called the accusations "disgusting" – inquired about the well-being of his wife, daughter, and mother, and about his "since." "It's only natural that someone with even a modicum of humanism would be interested in the family, nothing more," he argued. He denied that the purpose of the spokesperson for the Spanish government was to "buy" his silence.

After PP sources introduced him as "just another one of the Peugeot clan" and one of the "leading figures" of Sánchez's faction, Paco Salazar stated that he knows nothing about the car Sánchez used to travel around Spain to regain the leadership of the PSOE: "I haven't even seen it." He also distanced himself from José Luis Ábalos, Koldo García, and Santos Cerdán, stating that he saw "nothing inappropriate" in their behavior during the time that They agreed. Regarding the payments from the PSOE, he acknowledged receiving money both in cash and via bank transfers: they were small amounts and invoices for trips he made.

Sánchez's father-in-law's saunas

One of the issues that both UPN and Vox have raised is the role of Pedro Sánchez's father-in-law, Sabiniano Gómez, in the primaries that led to his rise to power within the PSOE. "Are you aware that he made financial contributions that could have come from the sauna business and prostitution?" Mar Caballero asked. "I can't know if he did or not; I didn't have access to that information then, and I don't have it now," Paco Salazar replied. When questioned about possible contributions from companies implicated in alleged corruption cases, he replied that, broadly speaking, they were "very small" amounts from "individuals." In response to questions from the PP, he reiterated that he has "no idea" how the primaries were financed. When questioned by Vox Senator Ángel Gordillo, he denied statements made by Koldo García in OK DailyThe former advisor to Ábalos claimed to have overheard a conversation between Sánchez and Salazar in which they said that Begoña Gómez's father would contribute 100,000 euros to the primaries. "I can't make that assessment because I have no knowledge of it," he replied.

The PSOE counterattacks with Móstoles

Speaking on behalf of the PSOE, María del Lirio Martín accused the PP of causing the "degradation" of the Senate and invited the Popular Party to summon the mayor of Móstoles, Manuel Bautista, after a former PP councilor she accused the party of pressuring her so that she wouldn't report him for sexual and workplace harassment. According to reports The CountryThe woman claims she wrote to Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who met with her right-hand woman, and that she made six attempts to seek support from the party, but no internal investigation was opened. The Socialist senator has accused the Popular Party of "remaining silent and covering up" the harassment cases. She also condemned their "intolerable sexism" and conduct "incompatible" with PSOE membership: "I spoke with the pain and indignation I feel as a socialist and feminist, standing up for these women," she lamented. "This type of behavior shames us; he did not behave appropriately toward his female party colleagues, and I must reproach him for that, and I deeply regret it." Finally, she denounced that the PP and Vox have "never had" a "real commitment" to women. She was unable to continue speaking because the committee chair cut her off for straying from the committee's topic.