Spanish authorities are investigating an alleged corruption scheme linking senior PSOE and PNV figures to irregularities surrounding a €112.8 million state-backed loan to Basque company Tubos Reunidos. A detailed report by the Guardia Civil’s Unidad Central Operativa (UCO) says the network reached the highest levels of both parties. It implicates former PNV president Andoni Ortuzar, vicelehendakari and PSE-EE Vizcaya secretary general Mikel Torres, and PSE-EE leader Eneko Andueza. The allegations concern a participatory loan granted in 2021 through the Fondo de Ayuda a la Solvencia de Empresas Estratégicas (FASEE), administered by the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI).
The UCO report says the group, led by former PSOE Organization Secretary Santos Cerdán, played a decisive role in securing the loan for Tubos Reunidos. The investigation details €247,459 in payments from the company to Vicente Fernández, former vice president of SEPI, as well as Leire Díez and Antxon Alonso, for alleged behind-the-scenes political lobbying. Payments went through shell company Mediaciones Martínez and directly to Fernández, with sums reaching up to €5,000 per month. The loan was intended to strengthen the company’s solvency and fund its industrial change in support of energy-transition and decarbonization goals.
Ortuzar reportedly met with Fernández and Tubos Reunidos executives in January 2025 to negotiate favorable terms for the company, including lower interest payments and an exemption from returning €10 million to SEPI after the sale of a property in Sestao. The UCO says SEPI’s initial resistance to granting the loan shifted after Fernández enlisted Alonso to encourage PNV leadership to intervene, as intercepted communications show.
Leire Díez, described as a basic operative, intensified her efforts in 2024 as Tubos Reunidos faced insolvency. She orchestrated a campaign of political pressure aimed at senior Basque political figures. Díez exchanged 1,288 messages with Mikel Torres between October 2020 and May 2025, pressing for meetings and support for Tubos Reunidos. Torres, who became vicelehendakari in 2024, has denied meeting Díez about a bailout for the company. He says their communications concerned local matters in Portugalete, where Díez was an active resident and Torres served as mayor until June 2024.
The investigation also points to Díez’s role in arranging contacts between Tubos Reunidos and Eneko Andueza, though the outcome of those interactions remains unclear. The UCO’s nearly 200-page interim report suggests the network’s activities intensified as the company’s financial situation worsened. On 4 June, the UCO searched Tubos Reunidos facilities under judicial authorization in proceedings related to the loan. A company independent director and its general manager were notified that they were under investigation. In its financial reporting, Tubos Reunidos said it considered it unlikely that the company itself would be treated as an investigated party in the proceedings. The inquiry is ongoing and could widen the case.
The loan’s terms and growing balance have become basic to the company’s financial crisis. Business reports put the outstanding SEPI exposure at about €143 to €150 million by 2026, including accumulated interest; estimates of Tubos Reunidos’ total debt range from €264 million to roughly €300 million. One report also put the company’s loss in the preceding year at €118 million. ELA trade-union representatives say the original financing carried interest of up to 9.5 percentage points above the applicable IBOR index, leaving large accumulated charges. They have argued that converting the SEPI debt into shares should remain an option under the loan’s structure.
The debt is also a major obstacle to a sale or restructuring. Reports on five competing offers said each involved workforce reductions, while prospective buyers sought to prevent the SEPI liability from transferring to the production units they might acquire. Insolvency administrators reportedly classified the claim as subordinated because it arose from a participatory loan. The insolvency court will decide its final treatment and whether it follows any transferred assets. Tubos Reunidos requested liquidation in October 2026 after efforts to find buyers failed, putting jobs and productive assets at risk.
The Tubos Reunidos affair has drawn national attention and echoes wider concerns about political influence and transparency in Spain. Recent cultural debates, including those surrounding the return of Jacinto Benavente’s classic play in Madrid, have also brought questions of power and social pressure to the fore, as discussed in this feature on contemporary Spanish society.
SEPI’s Fondo de Ayuda a la Solvencia de Empresas Estratégicas (FASEE) was established to support companies considered critical to Spain’s economy during crises. The fund provided state-backed solvency support amid the economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis and has faced scrutiny over its role in high-profile bailouts, including the case of Plus Ultra. The investigation into Tubos Reunidos raises further questions about accountability and oversight in the allocation of public funds.
