MadridLast June, the Civil Guard’s report implicating Santos Cerdán in an alleged corruption plot shocked the PSOE. Four days after the case broke out, Pedro Sánchez gathered the leadership of the party and announced a battery of measures to respond to it: among others, his appearance in Congress, the expulsion of José Luis Ábalos from the formation and the creation of an investigative commission in the lower house to “know the truth” about the Koldo case. The request, registered the next day by the parliamentary group, argued that the “seriousness of the facts and conduct” reflected in the UCO report “required” to promote a parliamentary investigation because it was “essential” to know the facts “in depth”.
However, almost six months later, the request remains in a drawer and has not even been put to a vote in the full Congress, which is the body that must give the green light to its creation. It is the first filter. Then it must be constituted and the parties must agree on a work plan and a list of appearances. But all this is still far away. And since then the socialists have avoided including it in the agenda of any of the ten plenums that have been held since the summer. Nor will it be debated in the last plenary session of 2025, which will be this week, so the hypothetical vote – if it comes – will be from February – because January is an inactive month for parliamentary purposes.
Regarding this delay, socialist sources allege that “there are five commissions of inquiry underway” and point out that the small parties “do not give the scope”. However, of the five commissions that have been approved and that are alive today, there are two – the one on operation Catalonia and the one on the 17A attacks – that have not summoned witnesses since before the summer and two that have not yet approved the work plan – those on the blackout, which are doubled due to Junts’ support for both the PSOE and the PP-. The only one that has worked this past quarter has been that of DANA.
A first commission on the sanitary material
The one that did work for six months – last year – was the commission of inquiry promoted by the PSOE to clarify the alleged irregularities in the purchase of medical equipment during the pandemic. It was the response of the socialists after the arrest of Koldo García, but it ended up dying in silence. The commission closed in October 2024 without having cited either Ábalos or Koldo and without having debated or approved the conclusions.
The extension of the works had to be approved, but the refusal of the PP, Vox and Coalició Canària caused the PSOE to renounce the vote and led to the hasty end of the commission. Only 21 appearances were held, less than 25% of those that were planned. The one who did appear – on the eve of the Catalan elections – was Salvador Illa. And the president of the Provincial Council of Almeria, Javier Aureliano García, who was arrested two weeks ago and is now being investigated, was also cited.
The DANA and the off
It is not the first time that the PSOE has dragged its feet to formalize a commission of inquiry. After the general blackout of April 28, the socialists and Sumar pushed for a commission to analyze the “facts, causes, responsibility and teachings”. It was approved twenty days later, but took six months to set up and has yet to begin work. And with the DANA – a commission promoted by Sumar, ERC, Junts and Compromís – it also cost: the first appearances came eight months after it was approved and coinciding with the first anniversary of the storm.
The other commissions of investigations
The Koldo case and its ramifications are under scrutiny in other parliamentary seats. The commission of inquiry that has the most resonance is that of the Senate, which the PP controls at will: it has held more than a hundred appearances and it is where the popular party summoned Pedro Sánchez a month ago.
In parallel, there are four regional parliaments that have launched their respective investigations. The last one to start was that of Murcia, which was set up a month ago to x-ray the “possible damages” of the alleged irregularities in the awarding of the AVE in the region. In Navarre, it was approved almost unanimously a few days after the report of the Civil Guard on Santos Cerdán became known: the commission started hearings in October and will put the magnifying glass on the awarding of public works in the last four legislatures.
The original commissions were from the two communities initially divided by the Koldo case. In the Balearic Islands it lowered the curtain in June 2024 – two months after it was established – with the conclusions agreed by the PP and Vox, which maintained that the government of Francina Armengol knew that the masks were useless and let them expire. In the Canary Islands, it is in the final stretch – in September a draft of the conclusions was leaked after more than a year of appearances – and it must study whether it will be reopened, as requested by the PP, to quote Minister Ángel Víctor Torres.
Aiko Tanaka is a combat sports journalist and general sports reporter at Archysport. A former competitive judoka who represented Japan at the Asian Games, Aiko brings firsthand athletic experience to her coverage of judo, martial arts, and Olympic sports. Beyond combat sports, Aiko covers breaking sports news, major international events, and the stories that cut across disciplines — from doping scandals to governance issues to the business side of global sport. She is passionate about elevating the profile of underrepresented sports and athletes.
