Overview

• Judge Leopoldo Puente ordered custody for Santos Cerdan, who resigned as the PSOE’s third-ranking official earlier this month while denying any misconduct.
• Ongoing probes target former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos and his aide Koldo García on similar kickback allegations.
• Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has defended the party’s decision to suspend Cerdan and said the court must establish any wrongdoing.
• The Cerdan remand follows a series of scandals that triggered external audits of the Socialist Party’s finances.
• Opposition parties, led by the People’s Party under Alberto Núñez Feijóo, have intensified demands for a snap election.