Spain’s Civil Guard searched the governing Socialist Party’s headquarters in Madrid under an order from National Court judge Santiago Pedraz. Officers from the Central Operative Unit sought records for an investigation into an alleged effort to discredit police, prosecutors, judges and private groups involved in legal cases affecting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s administration.
Investigators were examining whether party money funded intermediaries working with former Socialist member Leire Díez. The case included claims that payments were hidden through false invoices. The search was intended to obtain documents that could confirm or disprove those allegations; it was not a judicial finding that illegal party financing had occurred.
Police also visited addresses linked to former Andalusian regional vice-president Gaspar Zarrías, former PSOE organisation secretary Santos Cerdán and businessman Javier Pérez Dolset. The judge placed those three under investigation for alleged offences including criminal organisation, bribery, disclosure of secrets, false testimony and influence peddling.
Ana María Fuentes, the party manager responsible for its finances, was investigated over possible commercial-document falsification tied to allegedly inaccurate invoices. Other officials were mentioned as potential collaborators, but the court had not yet specified their criminal responsibility. The inquiry also sought an internal Civil Guard file concerning a possible leak.
Díez had appeared in recordings discussing efforts to obtain compromising material about an anticorruption prosecutor and a senior police officer. She denied acting as a party fixer and said her meetings were journalistic research into misconduct inside state institutions. PSOE subsequently sought to distance itself from her.
Party spokesperson Montse Mínguez promised full cooperation and said requested information would be handed over. She rejected any suggestion that evidence was being destroyed, while accusing conservative opponents of conducting a campaign to discredit the Socialists. Deputy Prime Minister Carlos Cuerpo said the government maintained zero tolerance for illegal conduct and respected judicial proceedings.
Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called for voters to be given a say, but Sánchez rejected an early election and said his term should continue to August 2027. Coalition partners said illegal financing would be a red line if proved, increasing the political stakes while carefully distinguishing allegations from established facts.
Spain’s rules make removing a prime minister difficult without a parliamentary majority for an alternative candidate. The search therefore intensified pressure on Sánchez but did not by itself change the government. Its consequences depended on what the seized records showed and whether prosecutors could substantiate the alleged payments and obstruction.
The inquiry also unfolded alongside other corruption cases affecting Sánchez allies and family members. Those separate proceedings added political pressure but did not prove the allegations examined at Ferraz. Each case required its own evidence and judicial findings.
