BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Police in Spain searched the headquarters of the ruling Socialist Party on Wednesday as part of an investigation into possible financial wrongdoing linked to three former party members and other individuals who allegedly tried to influence police and legal cases.
The search of the office in central Madrid is another blow to the party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose Socialists have been hammered by a series of corruption scandals to his some of its leader's closest confidants, his wife and brother and the previous Socialist to hold his office.
"We respect the justice system, we will collaborate with the courts and there is the commitment in the Socialist Party that if there are new episodes of improper behavior, we will act with the same firmness we always have," Sánchez told a news conference in Rome.
Sánchez, who has been Spain's leader since 2018 and is a major critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, has not been directly named in any investigation.
A court statement issued on Wednesday said that judge Santiago 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 searches were strictly limited to that case, and not a wholesale raid of the offices, the police said.
The case against started in 2025 when audio recordings appeared in Spanish media of then party member Leire Díez apparently involved in attempts to discredit a member of the Civil Guard's anti-corruption unit. Further reports linked Díez to alleged attempts to influence the work of state prosecutors. The judge's probe is targeted on seeing if she received payments 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.
The judge said that in addition to Díez, he is now also probing the alleged involvement of former Socialist heavyweight Santos Cerdán — 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.
Legal woes mount
The searches add to a growing list of legal cases that are hounding Spain's Socialists.
A separate court said last week it was investigating former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in connection with a government airline bailout. Zapatero, who was in power from 2004-2011 and is a major backer of Sánchez, has denied any wrongdoing.
Cerdán and José Luis Ábalos, who held two ministerial posts under Sánchez, were placed under investigation in 2025 on allegations they played a part in a kickback ring that started during the COVID-19 pandemic, which they have denied.
Ábalos has been tried for one case of alleged corruption along with two other cohorts. A verdict is expected to come soon.
Ábalos and Cerdán were early Sánchez supporters inside the party and both rose to be the party's No. 3 ranked official before they were forced out of the party when their scandals broke.
Sánchez's wife, Begoña Gómez, has been charged by an investigative judge for inappropriately using her position to be named to an academic post at a university, while his brother, David Sánchez, and other local officials in Badajoz have been charged with having created a civil service post for him to occupy unrightfully. Gómez and David Sánchez, whose trial starts on Thursday, deny any wrongdoing.
Cases 'do nothing to stain the work of government '
Sánchez 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."
His minority government depends on the support of a junior coalition partner, which for now has stuck with it despite the judicial actions.
The search of his party's offices came while Sánchez was in the Vatican for an audience with Pope Leo XIV, who is set to visit Spain from June 6-12. The prime minister said he delayed his news conference so that he could be informed of the searches before speaking to reporters.
The leader of Spain's leading opposition party, conservative Alberto Núñez Feijóo called for snap elections. "There is no other solution other than immediately letting the Spanish people voice their opinion," the Popular Party leader said.
Sánchez brushed off calling early elections, which will have to take place next year at the latest.
While acknowledging the "seriousness" of the events in Madrid, Sánchez insisted that the cases of corruption "do nothing to stain the work of this government that, with progressive parties, is working for a social and economic transformation."
