Sánchez skips San Fermín as Venezuela-Aldama scandal erupts in Spain

El Mundo exposes Venezuelan oil payments to Zapatero and Spain's PSOE

Pedro Sánchez will not attend the San Fermín festival. The prime minister's schedule has cleared just as El Mundo reveals the inner workings of an operation linking former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and the PSOE (Spain's Socialist Party) to payments from the Chavista regime through businessman Víctor de Aldama. According to the documentation obtained by the newspaper, Aldama allegedly received 300,000 euros from Venezuelan businessman Raúl Flores, reportedly as part of a scheme to fund the PSOE with Venezuelan crude. The transfer, made by the company Apamate, took place 17 days before Delcy Rodríguez's controversial alucinación to Spain. In his secret testimony before a judge, Aldama allegedly admitted the payment and linked it to the oil quota that, according to his account, Delcy granted him. Months later, Flores himself allegedly paid 145,200 euros to the "Zapatero group" through the company Análisis Relevante.

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Sánchez goes quiet amid the storm

While the PSOE remains silent, Sánchez's absence from Pamplona is being read as an attempt to dodge media pressure. The party insists that the schedule is the schedule, but the timing is hard to ignore: just as the case takes on judicial dimensions with Aldama's secret testimony, the prime minister chooses not to expose himself.

What did Zapatero want the money for?

Speculation about the destination of those funds is mounting. While some suggest the former prime minister was acting as a party fundraiser, others point to possible personal uses. The fact is that, unlike others implicated in similar cases —such as Zaplana or Ábalos— Zapatero's motive is not obvious. No ostentatious luxuries, no lifestyle above the norm. The question of where that money went remains open.

The opposition has already reacted: "With this, Sánchez should resign," they repeated on social media. But recent history shows that the yardstick of Spanish politics is elastic. When a British prime minister resigns over a minor scandal, Spanish politicians cling to power. The expectation that this will bring Sánchez down is, at the very least, doubtful.

The coming weeks will be key to determining whether the judicial investigation confirms the payments and their destination. For now, the only certain fact is that the Venezuelan oil trail leads to the top of the Socialist leadership. And that Sánchez prefers not to be in the front line when the spotlight comes on.