Spain's PSOE Reels as 'Leire Díez' Scandal Deepens: Cerdán Denies Bribes, Podemos Calls Government Position 'Unsustainable'

Cerdán's first public denial

Emerging from a courthouse in Tafalla, Navarre, where he signs in on the 1st and 15th of each month as part of bail conditions from the separate 'Koldo case', Santos Cerdán gave his first public reaction to being charged in the 'Leire Díez' investigation.

Neither blackmail nor anything of the sort was done.

The former PSOE organization secretary was answering questions about whether party funds were used for blackmail and bribes. Last week, agents from the Guardia Civil's Central Operative Unit (UCO) searched his home in Milagro, leaving with six backpacks, two suitcases, and two boxes. The same day, the UCO also raided the PSOE headquarters on Madrid's Ferraz street and a property linked to former Andalusian vice-president Gaspar Zarrías.

The allegations

Judge Santiago Pedraz of the Audiencia Nacional is investigating whether Cerdán facilitated the use of party funds to pay €4,000 monthly to former PSOE militant Leire Díez, allegedly using false invoices to cover bribes to public officials. The investigation also involves other PSOE members and has detected payments to media outlets. The case has drawn in former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, whose recent indictment Podemos says cannot be dismissed as 'lawfare'.

Podemos breaks ranks

Podemos organization secretary Pablo Fernández stated the legislature has reached an 'unsustainable' position following the Zapatero indictment and new revelations in the Díez case.

It is not only that the PSOE is giving practically no explanations about these cases and has not yet accepted the gravity of its situation, but we have also discovered that some of the explanations given in the past by the PSOE regarding the Leire Díez case were false.

Fernández argued that while some cases affecting the PSOE are genuine lawfare — citing the attorney general and the prime minister's wife — the Díez and Zapatero matters are not. He warned that calling everything a judicial witch-hunt damages credibility in cases where persecution is real.

Echenique: 'Both things are true'

Former Podemos parliamentary spokesman Pablo Echenique urged Spaniards not to be forced to choose sides.

If you are neither from the PSOE nor the PP, don't let them force you to choose a side.

He acknowledged 'extremely serious' cases within the PSOE while insisting a right-wing judicial and media 'hunt' against the government has been underway since the 2018 no-confidence motion. Echenique questioned why Cerdán was appointed after his predecessor Ábalos was caught up in scandal, and why the party's manager was retained after Cerdán's departure.

The PSOE's defense strategy

According to El País journalist Carlos Cué, the PSOE's strategy is one of 'resistance' and party pride, concentrating all responsibility on Cerdán, who is already outside the party.

The PSOE's fundamental strategy consists of maintaining that yes, there were irregularities — because it is evident that things happened, as the court record clearly reflects — but that it was Santos Cerdán who carried them out.

Cué said the leadership is protecting the party manager by claiming she acted on Cerdán's instructions and could not have known the final destination or use of the funds.

Public opinion turns

A laSexta barometer published Monday shows 56% of Spaniards believe Pedro Sánchez knew about Leire Díez's activities, against 43% who say he did not. The divide is starkly partisan: 97% of PSOE voters believe the prime minister was unaware, while 97.8% of PP voters and 99% of Vox voters believe he knew. Overall, 65% consider the scandal grave or very grave — a view shared by 98.4% of PP voters and over 99% of Vox supporters. Among PSOE voters, 45.9% consider it 'not at all grave'.