Police in Spain have raided the Madrid headquarters of the governing Socialist Party and seized a number of documents as part of an investigation into alleged corruption.
The inquiry comes amid a series of scandals that have hit the party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
The head of Spain’s opposition conservative People’s Party (PP) said the government “stinks” of corruption and he has renewed his call for early elections.
Last week Socialist former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was placed under investigation over alleged influence-peddling. A number of figures, including Sánchez’s wife and brother, also face charges. All deny wrongdoing.
Wednesday’s raid on the Socialist Party (PSOE) headquarters was part of an investigation into allegations that an operative, Leire Díez, was paid to carry out a campaign of misinformation aimed at impeding legal cases affecting the party. She has also denied doing anything wrong.
Searches were also carried out at the homes of senior party figures and a leading businessman.
Sánchez marks eight years in power next week, and currently heads a shaky minority coalition, secured after the conservative PP won 2023 elections but failed to form a government.
After the latest raids PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called on the PSOE’s allies to stop supporting a government that “stinks”.
“How many more raids, how many more commissions, how many more bribes, how much more money in bags?” he said.
Sánchez was visiting Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican as the search of party headquarters emerged, and the prime minister told reporters he would serve out his four-year term as prime minister and not call early elections.
A key figure in the latest case to engulf the PSOE is Santos Cerdán, a former party secretary who at the time was a powerful Sánchez ally.
Cerdán has already denied wrongdoing in an earlier case, in which he has been accused of acting with former party officials in awarding public contracts in exchange for bribes. He stood down from his party position last year but maintains his innocence.
Wednesday’s raid followed hard on the heels of Socialist ex-Prime Minister Zapatero being summoned to testify in court next month. He is being investigated on suspicion of using his political influence to help secure a bailout for the Plus Ultra airline in 2021, and for potentially benefiting financially from the deal.
Zapatero has repeatedly denied doing anything wrong and Pedro Sánchez has pledged his support for his predecessor, who led Spain from 2004-11.
Other suspects include former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos, who is awaiting a court verdict after a four-week trial in which he and others are accused of taking illegal commissions on mask sales during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pedro Sánchez said last year he had considered resigning but eventually decided “throwing in the towel is not an option”.
And it is not just party allies who are facing allegations, but members of his family too.
His brother, David, goes on trial on Thursday along with 10 other defendants on charges of influence-peddling which he denies.
Last month his wife Begoña Gómez was charged with embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption in business dealings and misappropriation of funds.
She too denies the charges. Sánchez has dismissed the allegations as a right-wing plot to undermine his coalition.
By BBC News
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