Pedro Sánchez meets by surprise with Salvador Illa in Moncloa

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez summoned the President of the Generalitat (Catalan Government), Salvador Illa, unexpectedly to Moncloa today, amid a crisis affecting the government and the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) over the alleged involvement of his two most recent Secretaries of Organization in the Koldo case, which led to the raid on Ferraz by UCO agents today.

Sánchez has no official event scheduled today, and Illa has canceled his participation in the closing ceremony of the Catalan Economic and Business Congress to attend Moncloa Palace, Efe reports. The president met urgently with Illa in a private meeting that Moncloa Palace has not included in the president's public agenda, and both the government and the Catalan government have remained silent regarding the content of the meeting in Moncloa Palace.

Salvador Illa's attendance at this event organized by the College of Economists in Barcelona was confirmed until yesterday afternoon, when it disappeared from the Catalan president's schedule.

The meeting comes as the Supreme Court confirmed the indictment of the former Socialist Organization Secretary and UCO agents raided the Socialist headquarters on Ferraz Street in Madrid to clone Cerdán's corporate email address. They also raided the Ministry of Transport, the headquarters of ADIF, and the General Directorate of Highways to gather information requested by Supreme Court Judge Leopoldo Puente.

The government describes the meeting as "normal": it asserts that it is "not an emergency meeting" and its objective is to "analyze" the situation following the departure of former Organization Secretary Santos Cerdán from the PSOE.

Sánchez and Illa met at La Moncloa Palace this Friday, despite the Prime Minister's lack of an official agenda for today. According to Servimedia, the Prime Minister met with the President of the Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), Cristina Narbona, yesterday.

Sources from La Moncloa (Ministry of Justice) assure that the president "is listening" to both members of the government and members of his party to analyze the situation following Cerdán's departure. They also added, regarding the Supreme Court's investigation into the Koldo case, that they don't know if "more names" will be revealed, nor do they know what else might come out. However, they insisted on remaining calm because, as Sánchez says, "whoever does it will pay."

Since Cerdán resigned from all his posts last week, including his seat, Illa has closed ranks with Sánchez and praised his government's work, despite the "ignoble behavior" of Socialist officials implicated in corruption cases.

This Wednesday, during the Catalan president's scrutiny session in the Parliamentary Assembly, he refuted those suggesting his possible involvement in the Koldo case: "I am completely calm, clean, and ready to face the public when asked."

"I have nothing to hide, I have nothing to hide from. I have always acted with integrity and fairness," Illa emphasized in response to the president of the Catalan People's Party (PP), Alejandro Fernández, who alluded to the appearance of the president's name in the UCO report.

President Sánchez held his final public event this Wednesday at the government oversight session in Congress, the first since the publication of the UCO report linking Cerdán to bribery for public works contracts.

On Thursday, he kept his public agenda clear, although he was working in his office at La Moncloa on a letter to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in which he opposed Spain increasing defense spending to 5% of GDP.

Both are expected to address the ongoing crisis within the PSOE , which is also affecting the party in Navarre, where the deputy leader, Ramón Alzórriz, has already resigned for concealing the fact that his girlfriend worked for the company Servinabar, which was allegedly involved in bribery payments.

Another issue that may also be on the table is the specific financing of Catalonia, regarding which Illa has expressed his confidence in recent days that an agreement will be reached with the government before the deadline agreed upon with the ERC, which expires at the end of June.

The agreement contemplates the development of the Catalan treasury so that it gradually assumes all taxes, starting with personal income tax in 2026. In recent days, Illa has assured that the established deadlines will be met.