Judge Santiago Pedraz of Spain’s National Court has summoned Leonardo Marcos, former director of the Guardia Civil, to appear as a suspect in the ongoing “Cloacas” investigation. Marcos is due to testify on September 10. The case examines alleged efforts to obtain compromising information and weaken judicial and Guardia Civil investigations considered damaging to the PSOE and the government.
The decision followed a request from the popular prosecution, led by the Partido Popular (PP), which cited claims by former officials of the Guardia Civil’s Central Operative Unit (UCO) that Marcos pressured the unit to halt an investigation involving David Sánchez, the brother of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The prosecution argues that the alleged conduct may amount to malfeasance and obstruction of justice, and went beyond routine hierarchical oversight. The allegations remain under judicial examination.
Current Guardia Civil director Mercedes González and her deputy, Manuel Llamas, have already testified before Pedraz. The prosecution points to internal communications and confidential inquiries as possible evidence of coordinated action at senior levels. It also cites instructions to the UCO. The period under review runs from June 2023 to September 2024, when Marcos led the Guardia Civil.
The underlying Badajoz proceedings concerned David Sánchez’s employment at the provincial council, the Diputación de Badajoz, in 2014 and 2015. Judge Beatriz Biedma handled that case and ultimately ordered that David Sánchez be sent to trial. She later testified before Pedraz on October 8 as a potentially affected party. Information from reporting by Hoy, Biedma said investigators told her: “They are putting pressure on us, and that pressure is reaching the investigators, something that has never happened to us before.”
Pedraz also summoned José Luis Alonso Tejuca, chief prosecutor of Badajoz, as a witness to clarify how the provincial prosecutor’s office handled a complaint against Leire Díez, a former PSOE member under investigation in the “Cloacas” proceedings. The complaint concerned alleged actions against Biedma and was ultimately dismissed. The court has requested the complete file from both the Badajoz provincial prosecutor’s office and the State Attorney General’s Office, including communications among prosecutors and other officials. The inquiry is also examining the role of Diego Villafañe, then deputy to the State Attorney General, who reportedly issued procedural instructions and recommended closing the complaint.
Díez has denied taking part in a campaign against Biedma. She acknowledged meeting former judge Luis José Sáenz de Tejada, but said she wanted information about court proceedings, not material to harm the judge. She called the allegations “nonsense” and said she met Sáenz de Tejada “so he could tell me things,” according to Hoy. The reported investigative theory, by contrast, concerns whether contacts involving Díez and others were part of an effort to discredit judicial officials or Guardia Civil investigators.
The investigation has also put the PSOE’s records under scrutiny, although Pedraz declined on October 9 to designate the party itself as an investigated legal person, citing insufficient initial evidence. On October 23, he ordered the PSOE to provide, within 15 days, documentation concerning lawyers and law firms, along with consultancies hired between 2021 and 2025. RTVE reported that the judge required the material to be delivered “without further delay.” The requested records cover basic and regional party bodies and are intended to clarify contracts and payments, along with authorizations and internal oversight. The document order does not itself make the PSOE a suspect in the case.
The proceedings have expanded beyond the initial allegations concerning Díez. Reporting by EL PAÍS and Hoy has described scrutiny of former judge Luis José Sáenz de Tejada and other alleged collaborators. It has also reported on UCO inquiries into contacts concerning Biedma. The court’s examination of party records adds a documentary strand to a case that began with allegations of pressure on investigators and judicial officials.
The case is unfolding amid wider scrutiny of alleged political interference in Spanish law-enforcement investigations. The National Court recently concluded the high-profile Kitchen case, which also involved allegations of political meddling in police work. The Kitchen case trial in Madrid ended after 37 sessions, with former officials facing charges related to espionage and obstruction.
The “Cloacas” investigation centers on questions about institutional independence and the handling of sensitive inquiries. Pedraz’s orders seek evidence about alleged pressure on investigators and judicial personnel, along with records of legal and consultancy work commissioned by the PSOE. The court’s findings will establish how far the alleged conduct reached and whether any individuals or institutions bear criminal responsibility.
