Overview
- In a Cadena SER interview on October 14, the prime minister said he had probably received cash reimbursements at times as PSOE secretary-general.
- He argued the mechanism is allowed by party finance law and described cash expense payments as common in institutions and companies.
- He cited a Guardia Civil UCO report that recorded €19,638 in cash reimbursements to José Luis Ábalos from 2017 to 2021, some delivered in envelopes.
- He maintained there are no signs of irregular financing, saying all outlays are documented, externally audited, and approved by the Court of Audit.
- PSOE sources said the payments drew on party bank accounts, not an off-books cash box, even as the opposition portrays the practice as irregular.