Spanish PM rules out snap election and apologizes over corruption scandal

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez ruled out calling a snap election on Thursday and apologized to citizens after one of his closest aides was implicated in a corruption scandal.

"I want to apologize to the citizens," Sánchez said during a press conference held just hours before Santos Cerdán, until recently a Socialist MP and the party's Organization Secretary, resigned.

Despite speculation about a possible snap election, Sánchez dismissed the idea: "There will be no election until 2027."

"Until this morning, I was convinced of Cerdán's integrity, as there was no indication of his involvement in the case. We should not have trusted him," Sánchez added.

The PM announced an external audit of the Socialist Party’s financial accounts, along with a restructuring of the party’s executive leadership, to be carried out at the next party congress.

Facing one of the most serious crises of his term, Sánchez defended his political project and insisted he had no prior knowledge of the alleged corruption.

What are the allegations?

Santos Cerdán was Pedro Sánchez’s right-hand man until recently. He served as a Socialist MP and the party's Organization Secretary.

A police report leaked to the press on Wednesday night identified him as responsible for handling illegal commission payments linked to public contracts.

The report contains eight audio recordings of conversations between Cerdán, former Socialist minister José Luis Ábalos, and Ábalos’s former aide, Koldo García.

In the recordings, they allegedly discuss the payment of €620,000 in illegal commissions.

According to the report, Cerdán was in charge of "managing the alleged payments."

Less than 24 hours after the report was published, Cerdán announced his resignation, relinquishing both his seat in Congress and his position within the Socialist Party.

However, he defended his innocence: "I hope to focus on my defense and prove that I have never committed any wrongdoing."