The Central Operational Unit of Spain’s Guardia Civil has placed the Basque Nationalist Party, known as the PNV, under scrutiny in connection with the public rescue package granted to Tubos Reunidos. The operation, worth 112.8 million euros and approved by SEPI in 2021, appears in the investigation led by Judge Santiago Pedraz as part of a broader inquiry into alleged influence peddling around state-backed business bailouts.
Reports referenced by Libertad Digital and Vozpópuli indicate that investigators uncovered messages from the Hirurok group mentioning potential contacts with the PNV to advance the Tubos Reunidos case, and those exchanges linked the supposed discussions with Basque nationalist figures to the rapid approval that the rescue package eventually received.
The UCO report states that the Tubos Reunidos case was brought again before the FASEE Management Council on July 13, 2021, when it ultimately received approval. Before that decision, the intercepted messages reportedly discussed the need to know the PNV’s position regarding the obstacles facing the process, including objections attributed to the area of the State Secretariat for Economy.
The inquiry also draws attention to Antxon Alonso, a business associate of Santos Cerdán at Servinabar, along with Leire Díez and Vicente Fernández, the former president of SEPI. The case file suggests that they were ostensibly involved in actions related to the bailout of Tubos Reunidos and received an estimated commission of about 115,000 euros for their alleged role.
After the public aid was approved, Tubos Reunidos signed a contract on December 1, 2021, with Mediaciones Martínez, a company connected to Antxon Alonso. The agreement included annual payments of 60,000 euros for advisory and business development services, although the UCO maintains that these amounts may have actually been compensation for the work carried out during the bailout process.
The case also affects the former leadership of the PNV due to meetings held with representatives of Tubos Reunidos and people linked to the alleged network under investigation. According to the cited documentation, Andoni Ortuzar, then president of the party, and Joseba Aurrekoetxea, its head of Organization, attended a meeting on January 28, 2025, with company executives and Vicente Fernández.
That meeting was said to be part of a later phase of actions involving Tubos Reunidos, centered on an effort to defer a 10 million euro payment to SEPI, and the UCO notes that the request moved rapidly, receiving internal approvals between March 21 and March 25, 2025 and earning a favorable recommendation from the FASEE Business Committee on March 28.
The revelations have triggered unease inside the PNV. According to Vozpópuli, party sources acknowledge that the situation is sensitive and that the current leadership will seek to separate the party’s present course from the contacts maintained during Ortuzar’s period at the helm. The strategy would involve placing political responsibility for those meetings on the former president while protecting the position of Aitor Esteban.
The internal tension arises amid ongoing debate over the PNV’s ties to Pedro Sánchez. A group aligned with Basque premier Imanol Pradales is reportedly concerned that sustained backing for the PSOE might undermine the Basque nationalists’ electoral outlook, especially as EH Bildu strengthens its position and the central government confronts intensifying scrutiny over corruption scandals surrounding its political sphere.
Although tensions persist, Vozpópuli notes that the PNV leadership is not considering severing ties with Sánchez or backing a PP initiative against the government. The party intends to preserve its partnership with the PSOE, driven by national strategic considerations and by the institutional equilibrium in the Basque Country, where Socialist backing continues to be crucial for the regional administration.
The Tubos Reunidos case has thus emerged as another point of political strain for the PNV, which seeks to limit the fallout from the UCO’s mentions while preserving its relationship with Spain’s central government. The judicial probe now underway will clarify the true breadth of the supposed interactions, the involvement of the intermediaries, and how far political actors may have shaped the authorization of public subsidies.
Source: Libertad Digital and Vozpópuli.
