BARCELONA: Spanish police are searching the headquarters of the ruling Socialist Party as part of an ongoing investigation into possible financial wrongdoing, the Civil Guard said Wednesday.
The raid on the office in central Madrid is another blow to the party of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose Socialists have been hammered by a series of corruption scandals.
The Civil Guard told The Associated Press that the police were under judicial orders to find material relevant to a National Court probe into accusations of corruption against former party members and other individuals.
The police said the search is strictly limited to a probe led by National Court judge Santiago Pedraz into the possible wrongdoing of Socialist party member Leire Diez.
The case against Diez started in 2025 when audio recordings appeared in Spanish media of her apparent involvement in attempts to discredit a member of the Civil Guard's anti-corruption unit. Further reports linked her to alleged attempts to influence the work of state prosecutors. The judge's probe is targeted on seeing if she received payments from the party to allegedly carry out these efforts.
The Socialist party said she was acting on her own. Diez, who has left the party, has denied wrongdoing.
A statement issued by the court on Wednesday said that judge Pedraz ordered the Civil Guard to “confiscate diverse documentation and electronic archives in an investigation of a ring designed to destabilize judicial processes that were affecting the ruling party.”
The judge said that in addition to Diez, he is also probing the alleged involvement of former Socialist heavyweight Santos Cerdan — who is already under investigation in a separate corruption case — as well as a former member of the regional government of Andalusia, a police officer, a business owner and two lawyers. The judge is investigating them on suspicions of bribery, making false testimony, forging commercial documents, influence peddling, and corruption.
Last week a separate court said it was investigating former Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in connection with a government airline bailout. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Sanchez's wife and brother are being probed over allegations of influence peddling, which both have denied.
And, most damning for the Socialists, Cerdan and a former minister under Sanchez are both being investigated on allegations they played a part in a kickback ring that started during the COVID-19 pandemic, which they have denied.
Sanchez, who has been prime minister since 2018, has called the cases against his family a “smear campaign.” But the corruption case against his former cohorts led him to ask the nation for “forgiveness” in 2025.
His minority government depends on the support of a junior coalition partner, which for now has stuck with it despite the judicial actions.
Sanchez, who has stood out on the international stage for his progressive stances that have earned the ire of US President Donald Trump, has not been directly linked to any of the scandals.