Pedro Sánchez's right-hand man held in jail on corruption charges
Santos Cerdán, the former No 3 of the ruling Socialist Party, was detained as part of a wider investigation that threatens to topple the government.
On Monday the supreme court judge Leopoldo Puente ruled that Cerdán, 56, should be held without bail on suspicion of bribery, criminal conspiracy and influence peddling. He denies all the charges.
The charges stem from alleged kickbacks on €500 million worth of public works contracts also linked to José Luis Ábalos, 65, Sánchez's previous right-hand man and the former minister of transport.
The judge said there was 'overwhelming evidence' of Cerdán's involvement in the network, which prosecutors say could have siphoned off more than €5 million in illicit gains from improperly awarded state contracts.
He said pre-trial detention was necessary because Cerdán might destroy or tamper with evidence if left at liberty.
The scandal's reach appeared to extend beyond Cerdán. The judge noted that 'more individuals, physical or legal' may have profited from the alleged scheme, naming Ábalos and his former aide Koldo García as possible beneficiaries. All deny wrongdoing.
Cerdán characterised the case as politically motivated, claiming he was being targeted for his role in brokering agreements with Basque and Catalan separatist parties that secured Sánchez's re-election.
Cerdán was the first of the high-profile suspects under investigation in the supreme court to be remanded in custody. His arrest marked a dramatic escalation in a case that had already cast doubt on the survival of the Socialist-led coalition government.
Responding to the ruling, Sánchez said: 'The party has done what it had to do. Now it is time for the justice system to determine responsibility.'
The scandal is likely to increase pressure on Sánchez, 53, to step down and call elections.
• Pedro Sánchez's row with Trump could offer respite from scandal
Miriam González, the wife of the former British deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg, has added to the Socialist leader's woes by publicly criticising him for failing to act after corruption allegations were made against his wife, Begoña Gómez.
González, 57, called his lack of action to improve governance standards in the year since the allegations against Gomez surfaced 'a democratic disgrace'. She also said the prime minister's wife was likely to escape scrutiny in a case involving an airline due to weak legislation.
In a sharply worded article published last week by El Mundo, González, who is the head of Better Spain, a civic group promoting transparency in public life, berated Sánchez and Alberto Feijóo, the conservative leader of the opposition, for not tackling loopholes in legislation dealing with conflicts of interest.
With other senior figures under scrutiny, political observers in Madrid are warning that the fallout may yet widen. The investigation continues.
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Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Spanish police reveal for the first time who they believe was driving the £185k Lamborghini that killed Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva
Spanish police say they are confident that Diogo Jota was at the wheel when his Lamborghini came off the road last week, killing the Liverpool star and his brother. Detectives investigating the fatal crash involving the forward's acid green Lamborghini Huracan also say tests have suggested the car was travelling 'way in excess' of the speed limit, said to be 120kmh (74mph). The 28–year–old father–of–three and his younger brother Andre Silva were travelling by road to the UK after Jota was advised by doctors not to fly following surgery. But the vehicle came off the road and burst into flames after what was initially suspected to be a tyre blow–out as the car performed an overtake. Both are thought to have died almost instantly. In only their second official statement since last week's crash on the A–62 near Zamora, close to Spain 's north–west border with Portugal, Spain's Civil Guard said it believed that Jota had been driving. It said of the progress of its investigation: 'The expert report is still being worked on and finalised. 'Among other things traffic police from the Zamora branch of the Civil Guard are studying the tread marked by one of the wheels of the vehicle. 'Everything is also pointing to a possible high excess of speed over the permitted speed on that stretch of the motorway. 'All the tests carried out for the moment point to the driver of the crash vehicle being Diogo Jota. 'The expert police report when it is finalised will be handed over to a court in Puebla de Sanabria.' The statement came after an independent expert claimed the road on which the crash occurred was peppered with 'many faults' and had been the scene of a near–fatal smash just days earlier, an expert has said. Javier Lopez Delgado believed the road surface had been a contributing factor to the men's deaths – and did not believe speed was the only factor in the tragedy. Mr Lopez Delgado, president of the Spanish Association of Road Safety Auditors (ASEVI), pointed the finger at 'multiple factors' including the driving speed, saying: 'If they had been going at 55mph they probably wouldn't have been killed. 'It seems very clear they were going very fast because of the skid marks.' It is not yet clear whether the Civil Guard or the investigating court awaiting the full police report will make the findings public and officials have not yet said who was driving. Speaking on the day of the crash in the sparsely–populated municipality of Cernadilla just ten miles over the border with Portugal, the force said: 'Everything is pointing to a tyre blowout as the car was overtaking. 'As a result of the accident, the car caught fire and both occupants died.' In comments to local paper La Opinion de Zamora, expert engineer Mr Lopez Delgado said even if the blown–out tyre was not in the 'right condition' or at the 'correct pressure', it would not be the only factor in the crash. He told La Opinion de Zamora the central reservation barrier the siblings slammed into acted as an 'obstacle' because 'the length and angle of incidence were not correct.' Referencing another accident in the same spot eight days earlier in which a 60–year–old woman was severely injured and had to be cut free from the wreckage of her vehicle by firefighters, Mr Lopez Delgado said: 'it could be a coincidence but I'm not a big believer in coincidences. 'When two different cars come off the road at the same kilometre point something's up.' Town hall sources in Cernadilla, home to just over 100 people, branded the A–52 highway where last Thursday's crash happened as 'very dangerous' after it emerged dad–of–three Diogo, 28, and his 25–year–old brother had died. One quoted by local press said last Thursday: 'As it passes through Cernadilla it is full of bends at 120 kilometres per hour. 'Exceeding the speed limit or poor visibility at night are often the cause of accidents in these areas. 'Today it was two famous footballers, who had a great career ahead of them, but perhaps tomorrow the victims will be two more anonymous people.' The road, also popularly as the Rias Bajas motorway, has also been described as an accident blackspot due to the regular presence of wild animals, in particular Iberian wolves and deer which are often the cause of collisions. The car the brothers were driving in burst into flames following the crash (pictured is the remains of the Lamborghini the pair were in at the time) The Civil Guard said hours after the crash in its only official statement so far : 'A road accident occurred this morning at 00.30 hours at kilometre 65 of the A52, in the municipality of Cernadilla, Zamora. 'A vehicle left the road, everything points to a tyre blowout while overtaking. 'As a result of the accident, the car caught fire and both occupants died. Pending the conclusion of the expert tests, the identification of one of the deceased is Diogo Jota, a Liverpool FC player, and his brother Andre Felipe.' Diogo Jota was heading to the northern Spanish port city of Santander with his brother to catch a ferry to the UK and carry on to Liverpool after the Liverpool player and Portuguese international was advised not to travel by plane following lung surgery. He had married his childhood sweetheart Rute Cardoso, mum to their three young children, on June 22. The siblings' funerals took place on Saturday at a church in their hometown of Gondomar near Porto. Several Liverpool players and Diogo's Portugal teammates were among those who attended after paying their last respects at a wake the previous day. News of the tragic came as it was Jota's widow could stand to inherit up to £35million from his estate for the financial security of her and their three children, MailOnline can reveal. Jota first signed a contract with Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2018 which saw him earn £38,000 a week. Two years of these wages saw him earn £3,952,000 before he hit the big time with a move to Anfield, where the first two years of his four year contract at £83,000 per week saw him pocket another £8,632,000. As a result of his phenomenal talent, Liverpool then extended the deal for five years in 2022 and upped his wages to £140,000 in a contract that saw him earn £21,840,000 before his tragic death. Built into this was performance bonuses, and his 65 goals in 182 games contributed to his wealth. However, he was also an Esports entrepreneur and global brand ambassador. Jota was due to receive another £14.5million for the remaining two years of his contract, which despite reports in Portuguese media suggesting Liverpool will honour, has not yet been confirmed. It means Jota's total earnings of around £34.4million since arriving in the Premier League could be inherited by Rute and their two sons Dinis, four, Duarte, two, and their eight–month–old baby daughter Mafalda. It is not known how much of this money he had spent, but a chunk of it had been invested in a five–bedroom, four–bathroom house in the upmarket north Liverpool suburb of Blundellsands. According to publicly available Land Registry documents, Jota and his wife bought the house in May 2022 for £2,125,000, where they rubbed shoulders with other players. The house had been listed for three years before selling and had been previously rented out. A brochure of the house available online shows an ornately tiled marble entrance hall leading to a reception area with a brass and wrought iron staircase. The ground floor living area has Georgian style double doors, underfloor heating and a Bose sound system. In the kitchen there are two sink units and a five hob Gaggenau cooker, wine chiller and fitted walnut units with granite work surfaces. The indoor pool is 39ft long and there is also a jacuzzi and steam room, while the games room has a snooker table and a pool table. Also on the ground floor is an eight–seat home cinema room with a surround sound system. Companies House records in the UK also show that Jota set up an image rights company called Minute J Ltd in February 2023 to channel some of his football earnings and his father Joaquim was also associated with it. The first set of accounts filed in December 2024 cover the period the initial first 12 months of the company and show it made £186,754 but owed creditors £49,786, with the bulk of £44,825 to HMRC for Corporation Tax. Football players often set up image rights companies as a way to control earnings from things like name, nickname, squad number which might be used in sponsorship, merchandising and endorsements. Besides his earnings from football Jota also had lucrative deals with Nike and EA Sports bringing in an estimated £3.3million a year and he set up his own Esports team called Luna Galaxy. According to Portuguese media, Jota also had a collection of luxury cars worth more than £1million including a Range Rover Sport, Porsche 911 Turbo S, a Ferrari 488, an Audi Q7 and a Mercedes–Benz G63AMG. Website, The Richest, in a detailed profile of Jota's financial worth, said: 'He left behind a financial legacy few soccer players achieve so young. 'His business smart matched his on–field vision, he left behind a blueprint for how athletes can build wealthy and legacy beyond the pitch.' Jota's tragic death came just 13 days after he wedded Rute, his teenage sweetheart. At the ceremony he declared himself the luckiest man in the world to be her husband and a series of emotional images and videos were posted to social media of their special day. Many who were there on what Rute described as that 'dream come true' wedding day then had to devastatingly fly in for Jota and his brother's funeral just over two weeks later. Family and friends, including footballers, came from all corners of the globe to the 17th–century Igreja Matriz church. It was there that they heard the Bishop of Porto, D. Manuel Linda, send a message to the couple's three children. The bishop said: 'At this moment you are suffering immensely or perhaps not because you do not realise it. The ones who suffer a lot are your mother and your grandparents. 'Seeing the mortal remains of a child must be a greater torment, but when there are two urns there are no words. 'If it is difficult to see an adult cry, it is even more difficult to see a child cry. I send you a special greeting for your mother and grandparents.' Mourners wore Diogo Jota shirts and paid tribute at Anfield Stadium following his tragic death Both coffins were carried through the front doors of the church to the sound of violins and applause in a procession led by two priests at 10am. Jota's Liverpool team–mates flew in overnight. They included Virgil van Dijk, the club's captain, and Andrew Robertson, who carried red wreaths in the shape of football shirts emblazoned with Jota's number 20 and his brother's number 30. Former Liverpool players, including Jordan Henderson and James Milner, were also present. Jota and his brother were 190 miles into a trip from Porto to Santander, where he planned to take a ferry to England, when they crashed in the Spanish province of Zamora. Their bodies were buried, not cremated, in a graveyard screened by olive trees. Jota's team–mates from his former club Wolves, including Joao Moutinho and Rui Patricio, joined club officials to pay their respects. They were spotted escorting a Wolves–themed wreath which read: 'Diogo your desire to fight and win lit up Molineux.' Speaking after the service, Roberto Martinez, the Portugal manager, was emotional as he told of his sadness over the tragedy. He said: 'I can only say that these are very, very sad days. Today was a demonstration for Diogo and Andre that we are all together and that we are Portugal. 'Now, I would like to thank everyone for their presence, for all the messages from all over the world. We are with Andre Silva and Diogo Jota. Always, always with us.'
Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Telegraph
97pc of under-18s in Spain have been victims of sexual abuse
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The Guardian
6 hours ago
- The Guardian
Madrid family win case against tourist flats after ‘illicit and unsanitary' acts
A judge in Madrid has ordered the closure of 10 tourist flats in a single building in the city centre after a landmark ruling that said 'the illicit and unsanitary activities' taking place in them had inflicted psychological damage on a neighbouring family and violated their fundamental right to privacy. The family, who have two children and who have not been named, said they had suffered stress, anxiety and sleep deprivation because of the loud, drunken, destructive and lewd behaviour of guests, which included vandalism, vomiting and having sex in the block's communal areas. The ruling, which has just been made public, comes amid continuing protests over the social and economic consequences of overtourism and the lack of affordable housing. The family live in a block of 60 flats near the Spanish capital's Plaza Mayor, 75% of which are run as tourist rentals. Two years ago, they engaged a lawyer to represent them after efforts to address the problem with the city council and the owners of the rentals came to nothing. 'The family have one tourist flat above them, another below them, and more tourist flats near their bedrooms,' said their lawyer, Miguel Ángel Rubio. 'The family came to me and told me that they'd been to the police who'd come with a decibel meter and had fined the owners €16,000. But the problem is that [the companies that own these flats and others] can make more than €150,000 in rents in a single weekend, so a €16,000 fine is nothing for them. So I had to bring a case on the grounds that the family's fundamental rights were being violated – and it succeeded.' Rubio said the case was groundbreaking as at stake was not whether the flats themselves were illegal or unlicensed, but whether the activities in and around them were severely damaging the family's basic rights and quality of life. The judge, in her ruling, said ample evidence had been provided of the stresses and strains that the family had suffered. 'The constant noise, the breaking of shared fixtures, the filling of the lobby with suitcases at all hours and the presence of shopping trolleys filled with towels and other cleaning items for the multiple tourist-use flats, thus impeding the movements of neighbours, have been duly proven and are not isolated incidents,' she noted. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion Also proven were 'guests using the common areas for sexual relations', multiple police visits, 'vomiting in the courtyards' and broken mailboxes and lift fittings. At one point, the judge said, things had got so bad that a security guard was hired. The judge rejected the rental owners' claims that the family was merely experiencing the kind of day-to-day disruption any neighbour could expect, adding: 'The actions were not merely irritating but also unsanitary, indecent and even illegal.' After finding that the family's 'fundamental right to personal and family privacy' had been violated, the judge ordered 10 of the flats in the block to close and awarded the family damages of almost €39,000 (£33,700). Rubio said: 'The family are very happy and very positive because the judge has ordered the flats to stop operating and has ordered the owners to pay them damages.' He said he had been inundated with calls from people in similar situations since news of the case emerged on Monday. In recent years, increasing overtourism has exposed the scale of Spain's housing crisis and prompted nationwide protests. The shortage of housing stock has been exacerbated by the boom in tourist rental flats. Rents have increased 80% over the past decade, outpacing wage rises, and a recent Bank of Spain report estimated that almost half of tenants spend 40% of their income on rent and utility bills, compared with an EU average of 27%. Last year, the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, said he would end apartment rentals to tourists by 2028 by scrapping the licences of the 10,101 flats currently approved as short-term rentals. Although the Spanish government recently ordered Airbnb to take down more than 65,000 illegal adverts, a recent study by the consumer and social rights ministry found that more than 15,200 tourist flats in Madrid are operating without the necessary licences.
