The PSOE and PP have intensified their political battle this Friday over businesses involving the family members of their leaders, Pedro Sánchez and Alberto Núñez Feijóo, as well as the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The socialists announced that they will take parliamentary and legal actions to investigate contracts between the Xunta and a company where Feijóo’s younger sister works as a director, as well as alleged commissions paid by Quirón Salud to Alberto González Amador, Díaz Ayuso’s partner, and the residence of the popular leader. The PP accused the socialists of trying to divert attention and labeled their threat as a “cover-up”, with Carmen Fúnez stating that the PSOE is inventing false distractions to hide their own dealings and those of their family members.
Micaela Núñez Feijóo, the younger sister of the former Xunta president and current national PP leader, has been a director at the services company Eulen for years. Contracts awarded to the company since May 2009, when Feijóo became regional president, have averaged 2.86 million euros annually, as reported by the newspaper Público. The PSOE has pledged to investigate these contracts awarded by the Galician government as well as payments from Quirón Salud to Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s partner and the housing situation of the Madrid president. They accuse the PP of using their majorities in Madrid and Galicia to shield their leaders and vow to hold them accountable for what they see as corrupt practices.
The PSOE has brought up the issue of Eulen and Feijóo’s sister before, with Minister María Jesús Montero questioning Feijóo’s knowledge of the contracts awarded to the company while he was in power in Galicia. The socialists are now threatening legal action if the PP does not provide clarification on contracts they consider dubious. They claim that Feijóo’s sister has benefited from contracts with the Xunta totaling 21 million euros, with 4 million coming from Feijóo’s time in charge of the public health system and 17 million from the current Galician government under Alfonso Rueda. The PSOE denounces the PP’s refusal to allow any scrutiny of these contracts and calls the situation “unsustainable”.
The PP sees the PSOE’s actions as an attempt to deflect attention from corruption allegations against Sánchez and his wife. Carmen Fúnez stated that what is missing are explanations regarding the corruption allegations surrounding the president, and accused the socialists of creating false diversions. She insists that Sánchez will have to answer to the Spanish people and the Cortes Generales for these allegations. Both parties are accused of not providing explanations and fueling suspicions of corruption with their silence. They have set the stage for a further escalation of their offensives next month, with the PP giving Sánchez until September to respond to various allegations.
Fúnez has given the President until September to address these issues and others that allegedly implicate him and the socialist party. However, it is unclear if the PP will call Sánchez to testify in a Senate committee investigating the purchase of medical supplies during the pandemic, although he is already on the list of witnesses. The parties have both failed to provide explanations and are exacerbating suspicions of corruption. They have indicated that they will intensify their attacks next month.
