September returns the PSOE to the judicial forefront with several open cases affecting leaders, former officials, and people from the environment of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez. The calendar concentrates in just a few days the statements of two officials from Plus Ultra, the interrogations of the party manager and a former director of the Civil Guard regarding the Leire Díez case, and the final phase of the investigation into Begoña Gómez.
The month begins with activity in the National Court and will have one of its main points of attention between September 7 and 10, with statements in two different proceedings.
At the same time, other cases will continue to advance over the coming weeks, while Judge Juan Carlos Peinado faces the final stretch of his leadership in the investigation into Sánchez's wife. On September 27, Peinado will turn 72 and retire, a date that could mark a before and after in the proceedings against Gómez.
September 7 and 8: Plus Ultra and the references to Zapatero
The first front will open on Monday, September 7, when the National Court judge José Luis Calama has summoned the president of Plus Ultra, Julio Martínez Sola, as a suspect. One day later, on September 8, the CEO and former financial director of the airline, Roberto Roselli, will appear under the same conditions.
The two statements are part of the investigation into the public rescue of Plus Ultra, the airline that received 53 million euros in public funds in 2021. Both executives had made references during the investigation to the actions taken regarding the operation and the role of the former President of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
Calama keeps the investigation open to determine whether crimes such as influence peddling and money laundering may have occurred around the rescue. The procedure also has a political aspect due to Zapatero's situation. The magistrate has rejected the former president's request to declare the general nullity of the case and has maintained the validity of various pieces of evidence incorporated into the proceedings.
September 9 and 10: the focus shifts to the Leire Díez case
The second major block of judicial activity will arrive immediately after. On September 9, the National Court judge Santiago Pedraz has summoned the PSOE manager, Ana María Fuentes, and the lawyer Ismael Oliver, as suspects.
The next day, on September 10, Leonardo Marcos, who was the general director of the Civil Guard between June 2023 and September 2024, will also be declared as investigated. On the same day, the testimony of the chief prosecutor of Badajoz, José Luis Tejuca, is scheduled.
The appearances are part of the investigation into the alleged plot linked to Leire Díez, in which the judge is trying to clarify whether actions were taken to obtain compromising information about members of the judicial and prosecutorial career or to interfere in proceedings affecting the PSOE and the Government.
The case also reaches other names linked to the party and the business and legal sphere, including former socialist leaders Santos Cerdán and Gaspar Zarrías.
Judge Pedraz expands the proceedings
The investigation reaches September after new proceedings agreed upon by Pedraz. Among them is the request for information about the movements of 81 bank accounts, six of which are linked to the PSOE, with the aim of verifying whether there are movements related to the investigated facts.
The party has demanded that any banking information not related to the facts subject to the procedure be excluded from the investigation.
Furthermore, the National Court has supported the dumping and analysis of Leire Díez's devices, considering that the actions were subject to judicial control and that her fundamental rights were not violated. The statements of Fuentes, Oliver, and Marcos will therefore take place at a time when the judge has expanded the proceedings and the investigation continues to incorporate new evidence.
Begoña Gómez faces the last weeks of Peinado
The third major judicial front will be in the closest environment to the President of the Government. Judge Juan Carlos Peinado faces his last weeks at the head of the investigation into Begoña Gómez before her retirement on September 27.
The procedure has been delineated after the resolutions of the Provincial Court of Madrid, and Gómez currently faces the case for alleged crimes of influence peddling and embezzlement. Her advisor, Cristina Álvarez, is also being prosecuted for embezzlement.
The defense of Gómez has already presented its provisional conclusions, a procedure prior to the eventual opening of the oral trial. The big unknown of the month will be whether Peinado completes the pending actions before his retirement and issues the corresponding order to open the oral trial. If this occurs, the procedure would pass to the Provincial Court of Madrid to continue its processing.
The planned calendar makes September 27 a particularly relevant date for the case, although any concrete decision will depend on the procedural evolution of the procedure.
The Cerdán case keeps the public works front open
In parallel, September will keep open another of the main judicial fronts related to the PSOE: the investigation into Santos Cerdán for the alleged rigging of public works contracts.
This branch comes from the Koldo case, although it is in a different procedural phase than the investigation that ended with the conviction of former minister José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García.
The Supreme Court sentenced Ábalos to 24 years and three months in prison and Koldo García to 19 years and eight months. Both have filed nullity incidents against the sentence, which must be resolved by the Supreme Court itself.
The investigation into Cerdán, on the other hand, remains open and seeks to clarify the alleged rigging of public works awards. Therefore, September does not mean the closure of this case, but the continuation of proceedings that may still incorporate new evidence or judicial decisions.
On September 22, it’s time for amnesty
The judicial calendar for September also includes a relevant date aside from the cases directly affecting the PSOE. On September 22, the Constitutional Court will begin to resolve appeals for protection related to the application of the amnesty law linked to the Catalan procés.
The court's decisions will have special political and legal relevance, as they affect the appeals filed against various judicial resolutions related to the application of the norm.
A month marked by four key days
The calendar thus leaves a particularly concentrated September. Between September 7 and 10, there will be four consecutive days with relevant statements: first the heads of Plus Ultra and, subsequently, several of the protagonists of the investigation into Leire Díez.
This is joined by the evolution of the case against Begoña Gómez, who will face the last weeks of Judge Peinado, the continuation of the investigation into Cerdán, and the resolution of the incidents of nullity raised by Ábalos and Koldo. On September 10, it will also have an institutional dimension with the official opening of the judicial year in the Supreme Court.
The month will end with another of the milestones of the calendar: the retirement of Juan Carlos Peinado on September 27. By then, several of the cases affecting the Government's environment will have advanced to a new phase, and the Supreme Court and the National Court will have decisions on the table that may prolong the judicial standoff for the coming months.
Overall, September does not concentrate a single case against the PSOE, but several proceedings at different procedural stages: pending convictions for review in the case of Ábalos and Koldo, an investigation still open into Cerdán, new statements in the Leire Díez case, the proceedings regarding Plus Ultra, and the possible arrival at oral trial of the procedure against Begoña Gómez.