The PSOE, immersed in confusion over the Cerdán case: "We don't know what else might come of it."

The Cerdán case was a "tremendously painful" blow to the PSOE, which was plunged into confusion and uncertainty by the signs of alleged corruption by the man who until a week ago was the party's number three, Santos Cerdán. María Jesús Montero, Socialist deputy general secretary and leader of the Andalusian federation, acknowledged this state of mind among both PSOE officials and rank-and-file members this Thursday afternoon in a press conference, just before meeting with the Andalusian PSOE executive. "We called it [the Seville meeting] to give each other a fraternal embrace" and "share" feelings, said Montero, aware that to achieve the goal of completing the legislative term, it is not only necessary convince parliamentary partners in Congress but also to encourage their own ranks. However, with the added difficulty that no one in the party or the Spanish government dares to swear that more evidence won't emerge that could sink them even further. "clean" and the Moncloa (Minister of Justice) limits the case to the behavior of a few "toxic" individuals. "We don't know what else might emerge," party officials privately acknowledge, also asserting that they didn't "see it coming" because Cerdán didn't have a suspicious lifestyle, as did his predecessor, that minister. The former minister turned on the fan and, in statements to Cadena SER, blamed Cerdán for having "used" him. Pedro Sánchez for having "mistreated" him, attempting to personify the cause and disassociate himself from Cerdán. The Country This morning, Cerdán's version was published: that his mistake was knowing about the corrupt network and not reporting it.

Sánchez's sudden loss of confidence in his number three in the PSOE is caused by the revelations of the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard, an investigation that extends beyond Madrid and implicates the Socialist Party of Navarre (PSN). How far could the scandal go? The leader of the Navarrese Socialists, María Chivite, was forced to appear this Thursday to defend her continued leadership of the government of Navarre. She did so after her deputy in the PSN, Ramón Alzórriz, who had a close relationship with Cerdán, was forced to resign.

According to her and Chivite's account, Alzórriz did not inform her that her partner worked between 2021 and 2024 at a construction company that, as revealed by the UCO investigation, was owned by Cerdán, who held a 45% stake in the company. This is Servinabar, a company allegedly involved in the scheme of illegal commissions in exchange for public works contracts. The Civil Guard reports that he benefited from contracts awarded by the Navarrese government worth more than 75 million euros. However, in a statement this Thursday, the company denied that Cerdán was a shareholder in the company: "There is no deed in which Mr. Cerdán acquired shares in the company." Cerdán began his political career in the PSN, where he served as organizational secretary and over which he still maintained influence from Ferraz. Before joining Congress, he had been a regional deputy. The UCO suspects that at that stage he had already launched he modus operandi which he replicated with Ábalos in the Ministry of Transport.

However, Alzórriz justified her resignation last night not because she had participated in any irregularities, but rather as an "exercise in honesty" due to the fact that she had not disclosed her personal connection to the company investigated by the UCO (National University of Navarre). Although she tried to act as a firewall by disassociating Chivite and the PSN from the matter, the Navarrese opposition was quick to demand the resignation of the party leader and one of the few Socialist regional presidents—along with Salvador Illa in Catalonia, Emiliano García-Page in Castilla-La Mancha, and Adrián Barbón. Chivite refused and defended the "cleanliness" of her government. "There is no indication of illegality," but rather it is a "mistake of not communicating something that could have been important," argued Chivite regarding Alzórriz's resignation. However, the PP and UPN have insisted that Chivite, who was not the leading force and governs in coalition with Geroa Bai and Contigo Navarra (a coalition of the left-wing PSOE) and thanks to the external support of EH Bildu, must fold. "Crying is an option. Staying is not," affirm PP sources. Génova focused on this branch of the case because it further wears down Sánchez and announced that it will summon "the entire Navarrese branch of the PSOE's corrupt network" to the Senate's commission of inquiry into the Koldo case.

Resist until 2027

"The corruption of the PSOE is not limited to two people on Ferraz Street," maintains the PP leadership, which extends its doubts to other territories where the Socialists have governed. In this regard, Minister Diana Morant, leader of the Valencian Socialists, the federation from which Ábalos hailed, has been forced to affirm that "if there is any spin-off that affects the Valencian Community, it will be responded to with the same forcefulness" as the one at the national level with Cerdán or in Navarra with Alzórriz. "What we do know is how we will act," they say within the party. In parallel, Montero and the Minister of Justice and the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, reinforced this Thursday the message launched in the previous days by Sánchez: They will hold out until 2027 because "they have plenty of reasons."

Sources in the Spanish executive argue that none of the groups in the plurinational majority have expressed any desire to derail the legislature and cite the overwhelming majority votes this week in Congress. The Spanish government has managed to pass the creation of the State Public Health Agency –although Junts has opposed it– and the law that will allow the dissolution of Francoist associations. In parallel, Sánchez, whose agenda has been filled, has attempted to divert attention to the international agenda of the coming days: he has sent a letter to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte5, Mark Rutte5. NATO.