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Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Sex, corruption and tapes: Scandal shakes Spain's Socialist government
In 1989, filmmaker Steven Soderbergh shook up cinema with 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape' which explored the darker sides of sexuality, the lies embedded in human relationships and the objectification of women. I bring this up in light of the political crisis shaking Spain, where the Socialist government (PSOE) of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is on the edge of a cliff. This time, it's not just lies and sex — it's an alleged corruption scheme involving kickbacks received by top Sánchez advisors in exchange for political favors, mostly related to public works contracts. The scandal has reached deep into the PSOE leadership and continues to unfold. At the center of this scandal are three men: former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos; former PSOE organization secretary Santos Cerdán; and Koldo García, their trusted aide who allegedly handled the dirty money — the commissions that were skimmed off the top and pocketed. These men were instrumental in Sánchez's rise to power and helped consolidate his leadership. But now, their proximity to power makes this all the more damning. And the scandal just deepened Monday: Santos Cerdán was ordered into provisional prison without bail by Spain's Supreme Court. He stands accused of belonging to a criminal organization, accepting bribes, and influence peddling. The judge cited the risk of destruction of evidence and coordinated criminal activity across public institutions. Cerdán now joins Koldo and Ábalos in a fall from grace so severe, even their closest allies have cut ties. The Spanish Civil Guard, in a nearly 500-page report, calls this an organized crime network, and it's inching dangerously close to the prime minister himself. Once welcome at Moncloa Palace, these men are now political poison. Former colleagues who once 'would've put their hand in the fire' for Ábalos and Cerdán now deny ever knowing them. As for Koldo García, he is seen as the operative who got his hands dirty—enriching his superiors, himself, and even his family. In true underworld fashion, García tried to shield himself from the fallout. Knowing the day might come when the whole house of cards collapsed, he secretly recorded conversations with his bosses . These tapes — now in the hands of authorities and partially leaked—are damning. They capture discussions of massive commissions tied to government contracts, awarded to companies willing to pay bribes. The men even quarrel like vultures over how to split the spoils. But it's not just corruption that makes these tapes horrifying. It's also the blatant misogyny. Koldo and Ábalos are caught speaking crudely about the women they allegedly hired for private parties — classifying them by sexual skill, discussing how to divide them and referencing their nationalities (Colombian, Romanian, etc.). The most 'favored' were reportedly assigned apartments. What emerges isn't just kickbacks — but the outlines of a prostitution ring allegedly funded with illicit money. This is especially shocking from a government that touts feminism as a core value. The Sánchez administration has positioned itself as a champion of gender equality, with many female leaders fronting that battle. Listening to these degrading tapes, it's impossible to believe these men reserved their vile language for private chats — it seems embedded in their mindset. And Sánchez, who styles himself a modern, progressive man, surely knew how coarse and sexist these men were. Yet they remained his confidants. Now we wait to see what Sánchez knew — and when. For the moment, he's clinging to victimhood, blaming the opposition for trying to 'bring down a legitimate government.' But legitimacy isn't destroyed from the outside. It's rotted from within. And as for the prime minister's inaction on the misogyny of his closest aides? Let's remember: it's not enough for Caesar's wife to be above suspicion — Caesar himself must be, too. Sadly, many in politics fail that test.
Local Spain
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Local Spain
Spanish police enter ruling Socialist HQ in corruption probe
A police report released last week implicated Socialist heavyweight Santos Cerdán and ex-transport minister Jose Luis Ábalos in receiving kickbacks in the improper awarding of public contracts. In a ruling issued on Friday, a Supreme Court judge ordered the Civil Guard to clone the contents of Cerdán's work email account at the Socialist headquarters. The judge also requested information on Cerdán's bank accounts and wealth, summoning him to testify on June 30th, and instructed officers to clone Ábalos's email account at the transport ministry. The images of police entering Socialist headquarters are damaging for an administration that came to power in 2018 promising to clean up Spanish politics after the rival conservative Popular Party (PP) was convicted in its own graft affair. Cerdán has relinquished his powerful post as Socialist organisation secretary and as an MP. The party has definitively expelled Ábalos. The scandal has shaken the minority coalition with far-left formation Sumar and relations with an array of leftist and regional separatist parties the government depends on to pass legislation. Legal investigations are also underway against Sánchez's wife, brother and Socialist-appointed top prosecutor. But the Socialist premier, one of Europe's longest-serving leftist leaders, has rebuffed demands from the PP and far-right party Vox to resign and call early elections.
Local Spain
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Local Spain
What is the leaked WhatsApp messages scandal embroiling Spain's PM?
The latest in Spain's seemingly never-ending string of political scandals emerged recently, centred on leaked private WhatsApp messages from Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in which he refers to colleagues as 'hypocrites' and a "disgrace". He calls his own Defence Minister Margarita Robles una pájara - an unflattering way to describe a cunning and unscrupulous woman - and accused Pablo Iglesias, his former Deputy Prime Minister and the then leader of far-left Podemos, of 'stupidity' and described him as politically 'clumsy'. The messages are also interesting in that they reveal just how close Sánchez was to José Luis Ábalos, former Transport Minister and number two in the Socialist Party (PSOE), and how depended on him as his political fixer. Ábalos has since left his post amid corruption allegations. Published in an exclusive by the right-leaning El Mundo over the weekend, the leaked messages reveal Sánchez unmasked. But is this story as big or as important as it's been made out to be? Sánchez's WhatsApp scandal In the messages, Sánchez ordered his then right-hand man Ábalos to maintain party discipline and crack down on dissenters from within his own ranks. In doing so, he refers to his own colleagues in unflattering terms. It also raises further questions about how much Sánchez personally knew about the alleged corruption, though there appears to be no particularly damning exchanges as El Mundo and opposition parties might have hoped for. More leaks could follow, however. Ábalos has been embroiled in the ongoing Caso Koldo corruption case for well over a year, one of several alleged corruption investigations surrounding Sánchez's inner-circle in recent years, including his brother and wife. The leaks have caused concern and unease within the PSOE and given the opposition Partido Popular (PP) fresh ammunition to attack the government, now in its seventh year in power. The messages were discovered at the house of Koldo García, Ábalos' former advisor, as part of the investigation into the case. Further tranches of messages have been released since El Mundo 's initial splash, though it seems the WhatsApps reveal more about internal party management and how the Sánchez government operates from La Moncloa. What do the messages say? Without a 'smoking gun' in terms of corruption cases, the messages are perhaps most interesting for their insight into how Sánchez governs behind closed doors. The messages show an incredibly high degree of trust between Sánchez and Ábalos in which the former Minister functions as the Prime Minister's closest confidant and political enforcer. This was already widely known, but to see it in private messages reinforces just how close they were and how much Sánchez depended on Ábalos for day-to-day party management. 'I have missed working with you many times, and your friendship too,' Sánchez said in one message after Ábalos left his post when he became submerged in corruption allegations. In Spain's highly devolved autonomous community system of government, the messages also reveal the extent to which Sánchez worried about PSOE power bases in regions of Spain. In particular, Sánchez repeatedly contacts Ábalos to maintain control over critical regional presidents, such as Emiliano García-Page, President of Castilla-La Mancha and long-time critic of Sánchez's deal making with Basque and Catalan separatists, as well as Javier Lambán (Aragón) and Guillermo Fernández Vara (Extremadura). Some of Sánchez's language is strong for a Prime Minister, granted, but perhaps not for private messages. Still, the Prime Minister used terms such as 'hypocrites' and 'disgrace" to refer to his regional barones (barons) and ordered Ábalos to call them in order to avoid public disagreements on sensitive issues. On Page specifically, following an unflattering interview given by the regional president, Sánchez dispatched Ábalos: 'It would be a good idea for both you and Santos to give him a slap on the wrist and tell him to stop messing around,' Sánchez said. Who leaked the PM's private messages? It remains unclear. Speculation in the Spanish media – and it seems little more than that, for now — suggests there are four possible ways these private conversations could have come to light: a leak from within the Supreme Court; from investigators in Spain's Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Guardia Civil, which is investigating the Caso Koldo; from Koldo García himself; or Ábalos. Spanish media reports suggest that Ábalos kept the messages on file in order to later write a memoir. Are Sánchez's private messages important? For political pundits and Spain's chattering classes, these leaked WhatsApp messages are firstly, fantastic gossip, and, secondly, insight into how Sánchez – a man widely regarded across the spectrum as a ruthless political operator – runs his government. In many of the exchanges, Sánchez read or heard interviews given by his own cabinet ministers or regional presidents and ordered Ábalos to discipline them. An interesting look behind the curtain though this is for political nerds, in reality, that the Prime Minister (in any party, in any country) would want to maintain internal party discipline and a united front politically is unsurprising. Where his private words could become important, perhaps even dangerous politically speaking, is if more messages are leaked that reveal clear evidence that Sánchez had knowledge of the Koldo Affair or any other ongoing corruption investigation. A drip feed of the Prime Minister's personal messages would inevitably be personally damaging and add to the growing sense that the Sánchez government is fatigued and will be voted out at the next election, whenever it comes.
