Sex, corruption and tapes: Scandal shakes Spain's Socialist government

Miami Herald

01-07-2025

In 1989, filmmaker Steven Soderbergh shook up cinema with 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape' which explored the darker sides of sexuality, the lies embedded in human relationships and the objectification of women.
I bring this up in light of the political crisis shaking Spain, where the Socialist government (PSOE) of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is on the edge of a cliff. This time, it's not just lies and sex — it's an alleged corruption scheme involving kickbacks received by top Sánchez advisors in exchange for political favors, mostly related to public works contracts.
The scandal has reached deep into the PSOE leadership and continues to unfold.
At the center of this scandal are three men: former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos; former PSOE organization secretary Santos Cerdán; and Koldo García, their trusted aide who allegedly handled the dirty money — the commissions that were skimmed off the top and pocketed.
These men were instrumental in Sánchez's rise to power and helped consolidate his leadership. But now, their proximity to power makes this all the more damning.
And the scandal just deepened Monday: Santos Cerdán was ordered into provisional prison without bail by Spain's Supreme Court. He stands accused of belonging to a criminal organization, accepting bribes, and influence peddling.
The judge cited the risk of destruction of evidence and coordinated criminal activity across public institutions. Cerdán now joins Koldo and Ábalos in a fall from grace so severe, even their closest allies have cut ties.
The Spanish Civil Guard, in a nearly 500-page report, calls this an organized crime network, and it's inching dangerously close to the prime minister himself. Once welcome at Moncloa Palace, these men are now political poison. Former colleagues who once 'would've put their hand in the fire' for Ábalos and Cerdán now deny ever knowing them. As for Koldo García, he is seen as the operative who got his hands dirty—enriching his superiors, himself, and even his family.
In true underworld fashion, García tried to shield himself from the fallout. Knowing the day might come when the whole house of cards collapsed, he secretly recorded conversations with his bosses
. These tapes — now in the hands of authorities and partially leaked—are damning. They capture discussions of massive commissions tied to government contracts, awarded to companies willing to pay bribes. The men even quarrel like vultures over how to split the spoils.
But it's not just corruption that makes these tapes horrifying. It's also the blatant misogyny. Koldo and Ábalos are caught speaking crudely about the women they allegedly hired for private parties — classifying them by sexual skill, discussing how to divide them and referencing their nationalities (Colombian, Romanian, etc.).
The most 'favored' were reportedly assigned apartments. What emerges isn't just kickbacks — but the outlines of a prostitution ring allegedly funded with illicit money.
This is especially shocking from a government that touts feminism as a core value. The Sánchez administration has positioned itself as a champion of gender equality, with many female leaders fronting that battle.
Listening to these degrading tapes, it's impossible to believe these men reserved their vile language for private chats — it seems embedded in their mindset. And Sánchez, who styles himself a modern, progressive man, surely knew how coarse and sexist these men were. Yet they remained his confidants.
Now we wait to see what Sánchez knew — and when.
For the moment, he's clinging to victimhood, blaming the opposition for trying to 'bring down a legitimate government.' But legitimacy isn't destroyed from the outside. It's rotted from within.
And as for the prime minister's inaction on the misogyny of his closest aides?
Let's remember: it's not enough for Caesar's wife to be above suspicion — Caesar himself must be, too.
Sadly, many in politics fail that test.