The PSOE takes on a new judicial front in full storm over the Zapatero case

MadridA paranoia runs through the PSOE. This is the feeling that this Wednesday socialist deputies who attended Congress early to attend the control session had, and who were surprised by a news item from El Confidencial that pointed to a search at the PSOE headquarters for an alleged irregular financing scheme. The shock was immense: they didn't know what was happening and the feeling of being completely exposed to the succession of events, in the midst of a storm over the Zapatero case, was absolute. After the initial shock, there was, in quotation marks, a kind of relief despite the seriousness of the accusations: from the party they indicated that the Civil Guard had appeared at the headquarters (it was there for twelve hours) to request information about a new case related to Leire Díez: the National Court is now investigating whether she and former PSOE leaders tried to obstruct judicial proceedings affecting the party or the Spanish government. That is to say, a case that directly points to the structure of the socialist party and which has led to a new indictment of Santos Cerdán and the party manager, Ana Fuentes, among others.

"We have nothing to hide," reacted the president, Pedro Sánchez, from Rome, just after meeting with Pope Leo XIV before the pontiff's visit to the State. From the Congress courtyard, some saw it as a perfect storm against the PSOE after José María Aznar's new "whoever can do it, let them do it". In Ferraz, they have the feeling that the PP is ahead and has privileged judicial information, pointing out that Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who does not usually stop to make statements before the plenary session, did want to speak to the press in the midst of the frenzy over the Civil Guard's presence at the party headquarters. "It seems they want us out by hook or by crook," laments a socialist official.

For Pedro Sánchez, however, this does not alter the plans. Although he has prescribed prudence and has shown himself willing to cooperate with the justice system, this Wednesday he made a staunch defense of the legislature's continuity. Not only for the "stability" that he says economic progress needs, but also for the "transformations" that he assures he is carrying out despite the Spanish government's difficulty in approving anything in Congress. In fact, Sánchez has even allowed himself to joke in response to the request from colleagues (such as the critical president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page) for an early election: "I would have a larger parliamentary majority to govern more calmly, but I cannot call elections for partisan interest," he ironically stated to maintain the 2027 date.

In reality, the expectation of Sánchez's appearance this Wednesday was not so much for the meeting with the Pope nor for him to comment on the Leire case, but because it was the first press conference after learning of the summary of Zapatero's case. In this regard, he admitted that he had read the judge José Luis Calama's order carefully and the extensive summary that implicates the former president: "All cooperation with justice, all respect for Zapatero's presumption of innocence, and all my support for President Zapatero – he said –. There are no reasons to change this position," he resolved emphatically.

Searches at homes and at the Guardia Civil

But Ferraz has not been the only media focus of the day, the Civil Guard has also carried out other searches. The judge handling the investigation, Santiago Pedraz, a magistrate of the National High Court, has ordered searches at the homes of the former organization secretary of the PSOE, Santos Cerdán, the former socialist leader Gaspar Zarrías, and the businessman Javier Pérez Dolset. In parallel, according to sources from the Interior Ministry, they have also visited the General Directorate of the Civil Guard to request documentation on a reserved information that was opened due to possible leaks to the police.

Following Wednesday's operation, the judge is expanding the perimeter of those under investigation from what was known as the Leire Díez and SEPI case. This is an investigation that was initiated by Judge Antonio Piña and has now been taken over by Pedraz, and which attempts to clarify whether Díez and the others indicated orchestrated a scheme to obstruct judicial processes against the party.

The group initially in the spotlight were Leire Díez, the former president of SEPI, Vicente Fernández, and the Basque businessman Antxon Alonso, also indicted in the Cerdán case. They were part of a group that called itself Hirurok (meaning 'us three' in Basque) which "could have directed several ongoing proceedings in public administration, for their own benefit or that of third parties, by taking advantage of their position, relationships, and capacity to influence certain individuals." This core group is now expanding: it includes Cerdán himself, Javier Pérez Dolset, the former vice-president of the Junta de Andalucía, Gaspar Zarrías, the PSOE manager Ana Fuentes, as well as two lawyers, Jacobo Teijelo (Cerdán's lawyer in another case) and Ismael Oliver (who defended Koldo García), and a civil guard, Juan Sánchez Yepes.

Pedraz interprets that the group was paid by the PSOE to torpedo cases affecting the entourage of the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, such as that of his brother, David Sánchez, or his wife, Begoña Gómez, through attempted bribery of prosecutors, police officers, or other public officials. The magistrate interprets that the allegedly criminal activity under investigation is "serious" both due to the penalties that could be imposed, and due to "the high amount" of the economic transactions under investigation (there is talk of payments of 40,000 euros to Leire Díez and 125,000 to Jacobo Teijelo). Another judicial front for the PSOE, therefore, which adds to the minefield it faces from now until 2027. This very Thursday, the trial of Pedro Sánchez's brother begins.