This is how it all began: the key meeting in Ferraz that the judge believes activated the PSOE sewers

MadridIt was April 24, 2024, on the eve of the campaign for the Catalan Parliament elections, when Pedro Sánchez dropped a bombshell on social media. A letter to the citizens in which he confessed to being "deeply in love with his wife" and wondered if it was worth continuing after learning that proceedings had been opened against Begoña Gómez in a court. He took five days to reflect, during which many assumed he would resign… but he stayed. He decided to resist. The reader will wonder why this episode is being brought up now, but there is an explanation: it was during this period of reflection that Judge Santiago Pedraz places the beginning of the new judicial front that, as of this Wednesday, the PSOE faces.

According to the ruling, on April 26, 2024, a meeting took place on Ferraz street, at the socialists' headquarters in Madrid, which marked a "turning point" in the alleged scheme being investigated by the National Court. It considers that at the meeting it was decided to counteract the investigations into Sánchez's wife, his brother, and others through an alleged criminal plan. According to the ruling, present were the then organization secretary of the PSOE, Santos Cerdán, the party's director of communication, Ion Antolín, the militant Leire Díez, the businessman Javier Pérez Dolset, and Juan Manuel Serrano, who was Sánchez's chief of staff at the PSOE and director of Correos.

It should be noted that at that time Pérez Dolset and Leire Díez were part of a group that was theoretically investigating the police's practices during Mariano Rajoy's government, along with other individuals such as the now deceased journalist Patrícia López, who did not attend the meeting for personal reasons. According to the judge's account, on that day Santos Cerdán decided to activate this group because they had "information that would help the president." The magistrate points to a handwritten note by Leire Díez, seized during the investigation, which reinforces that everything began then: "We tried to contact the PSOE for two years and only when the Begoña Gómez issue happened did they receive us."

From that moment on, the alleged criminal activity begins according to the judge: the group led by Cerdán devises a strategy to "destabilize judicial cases" that affected the PSOE or the government, with the aim of preserving "political interests at stake and obstructing proceedings that could directly impact members of the executive". For the magistrate, the PSOE is directly involved in the plot, as he maintains that Cerdán places the entire party structure at the group's service, in addition to the necessary financing. What exactly did they do? They made offers to officials, says the judge, and at the very least he assures that they tried to buy a witness in the judicial proceedings.

The judge indirectly cites Sánchez

The magistrate notes that beyond obstructing judicial proceedings that affected the PSOE, they also intend to disseminate certain information through a media plan where journalist Patrícia López plays a fundamental role, receiving 20,000 euros supposedly from the network to launch Crónica Libre and disseminate content from the audios of commissioner José Manuel Villarejo. These audios were previously obtained through an agreement with individuals affected by judicial investigations, including those from Operation Catalunya. This is why the judge is asking how many times former FC Barcelona president Sandro Rossell visited the PSOE headquarters between 2024 and 2025.

In this way, Santiago Pedraz investigated the alleged sewers of the PSOE, designed to expose the PP's malpractice and at the same time stop any judicial process that affected the party and the entourage of the Spanish president. The question that hovers over the entire order is: Did Pedro Sánchez know all this while he was reflecting for those five days? The judge makes an indirect reference to it: he cites, among others, a conversation between Juan Manuel Serrano and Leire Díez, in which the former tells her: "Look at the boss mentioning the audio issue".

The interpretation is not good for the Spanish government: it believes that it is referring to Sánchez's speech on April 29, the day he announced he would stay and resist in Moncloa, and in which he vowed to fight against malpractice through a "democratic regeneration". Will he consider him aware of and a participant in the information that the group led by Santos Cerdán had? Pedraz's investigation has just begun.