Overview
- Spain’s prime minister testified before a Senate inquiry led by the PP, which holds the chamber’s majority and has made corruption its main line of attack.
- During a tense session, Pedro Sánchez rejected knowledge of any crimes and denounced the proceedings as a circus.
- The case stems from 2024 arrests tied to pandemic mask contracts worth about €53 million that investigators say generated illegal commissions.
- Judicial filings have linked former minister José Luis Ábalos as an intermediary, and a police report named his successor Santos Cerdán as central to the network; Cerdán has been in pretrial detention since July.
- Sánchez has repeatedly apologized to Spaniards, denied systemic corruption in the PSOE, and faces additional strain from cases involving his wife and brother as well as the upcoming trial of Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz for alleged breach of judicial secrecy.