UPN puts Chivite against the ropes after the UCO's blow to Santos Cerdán: "She cannot continue one minute more"

The Civil Guard's patrimonial report on Santos Cerdán has reopened the political front in Navarra this Friday. UPN and the Popular Party have demanded accountability from María Chivite after the Central Operative Unit estimated 323,178 euros in assets, payments, and services that the former Secretary of Organization of the PSOE and several members of his family would have enjoyed between 2015 and 2024.

The most forceful reaction has come from Cristina Ibarrola. The president of UPN considers that the conclusions of the investigators make Chivite's continuity at the head of the regional Government incompatible and has demanded her immediate departure. "Given such a scandal, María Chivite cannot remain president for one more minute," she wrote on her social networks.

Ibarrola maintains that the UCO has confirmed that Cerdán obtained economic benefits linked to Servinabar, one of the companies forming the temporary union that received the contract for the duplication of the Belate tunnels. The regionalist leader directly connects the report on the assets of the former number three of the PSOE with one of the largest public works granted during Chivite's mandate.

This relationship is precisely the center of the new political battle. The report analyzes Cerdán's income and expenses, the movement of money within Servinabar, and the benefits received by his entourage, although the Government of Navarra emphasizes that the agents do not attribute any irregular action to the president or the members of the regional Executive.

UPN takes the report to Chivite's continuity

The regionalist party has been placing María Chivite at the center of its attacks for more than a year due to the political relationship she maintained for years with Santos Cerdán. Both shared responsibilities within the Socialist Party of Navarra, and the subsequent Secretary of Organization of the PSOE had a prominent role in the political negotiations that allowed Chivite to reach and retain the Presidency.

The socialist leader explained in May, during her appearance before the investigation commission of the Navarrese Parliament, that she personally asked Cerdán about the first information known about Servinabar. According to her account, he then assured her that everything was false. Chivite maintains that she stopped speaking with Cerdán after the first UCO report was published.

UPN considers this subsequent breakup insufficient. Their argument is that Cerdán's political relevance within Navarrese socialism, his intervention in different negotiations, and his interest in certain infrastructures made it impossible for his actions to be completely unrelated to the president's circle.

Ibarrola has now gone a step further by presenting the new report as confirmation that Cerdán would have obtained an economic benefit from Servinabar. The police investigation places the former socialist leader as owner of a stake in the company along with Antxon Alonso, although Cerdán has denied from the beginning having been a partner and maintains that he will prove his innocence before the Supreme Court.

UPN's statement speaks of an "illegal award" of Belate. This consideration belongs to the political position of the party and will have to be determined by the judicial investigation. The patrimonial report released this Friday focuses mainly on the accounts of Cerdán, his family, and the companies linked to Antxon Alonso.

The PPN points to Servinabar and the Belate tunnels

The president of the Popular Party of Navarra, Javier García, has also asked Chivite for explanations and believes that each new report makes her continuity "more unsustainable." The PPN maintains that Servinabar maintained a close relationship with Navarrese political power for years while obtaining public contracts.

García recalled the meetings held by Antxon Alonso with María Chivite, several counselors of the regional Executive, and former president Uxue Barkos. In his opinion, these contacts show that neither the businessman nor Servinabar were unknown to Navarrese institutions.

The popular leader has especially focused on the duplication of the Belate tunnels. Servinabar was part, along with Acciona and Osés Construcción, of the temporary union of companies awarded a project initially valued at more than 76 million euros.

The PPN also recalls that Santos Cerdán participated in meetings aimed at promoting this infrastructure despite lacking responsibilities within the Government of Spain or the Government of Navarra. García has asked what role the then deputy really played and why he intervened in institutional meetings about a project that was later awarded to a company from which, according to the UCO, he obtained benefits.

"Servinabar was not just any company, but an essential piece within the plot being investigated by the Civil Guard," said the president of the Navarrese PP. For García, the coincidence of people, contracts and institutional relations forces Chivite to offer explanations that he considers pending for months.

The UCO follows the money of Cerdán and his family

The report sent to the Supreme Court magistrate Leopoldo Puente consists of 163 pages and analyzes the labor, financial and tax situation of the former socialist leader. Agents estimate that Cerdán and several members of his family enjoyed at least 323,178.41 euros from Servinabar and other companies related to Antxon Alonso.

The figure includes salaries, rents, vehicles, furniture and various expenses assumed by the companies. Researchers highlight that benefits reached their highest levels between 2019 and 2023, a period that coincides with José Luis Ábalos's time at the head of the Ministry of Transport and with Cerdán's first years as PSOE's Organization Secretary.

The banking analysis reflects that 87.04% of the income received by Servinabar came from Acciona or from projects related to the construction company. The Civil Guard is investigating whether part of these funds was connected to the public works contracts that are part of the "Koldo case".

Agents have also located 18,261 euros deposited in cash between 2014 and 2017 whose origin has not been clarified. The document also includes payments made by Koldo García and his then wife, Patricia Uriz, to cover rental fees for a vehicle used by Cerdán's circle.

Another of the operations affects Francisca Muñoz, wife of the former socialist number three. Between 2023 and 2024, she received close to 18,730 euros through a salary of about 1,300 euros per month from Lorgen Genética, a company linked to people in Antxon Alonso's circle.

The UCO suspects that a corporate structure was used to channel this money under the guise of an employment relationship. The company assured investigators that it did not personally know Muñoz and had no record of the work she allegedly performed.

An apartment of almost a million paid for by Servinabar

The report also includes the attempt to buy a home for Cerdán and his wife in the center of Madrid. Servinabar negotiated the acquisition of an apartment valued at 985,000 euros in 2021 and even paid a deposit of 9,000 euros from one of its accounts.

Cerdán and Muñoz visited the property on several occasions, and Antxon Alonso participated directly in the negotiations. In the draft contract, the company appeared as the buyer of the apartment that was to be used by the socialist leader and his family.

The operation ended up being frustrated due to discrepancies with the selling party, and the deposit was returned in January 2022. For investigators, the episode shows Cerdán's ability to dispose of Servinabar's funds despite publicly rejecting any ownership or participation in the construction company.

The Civil Guard believes that there are still movements to analyze. So far, it has mainly studied the financial products in which Cerdán appears as the holder or authorized person, which is why it has requested the judge's permission to access the accounts of his wife, his daughter, his sister, and several brothers-in-law.

The Navarrese Government rejects that the report points to Chivite

The regional executive has responded to UPN and the Popular Party, assuring that the UCO's conclusions do not attribute any irregular action to the Government of Navarra or to the people who are or have been part of it.

Government sources consider that the references to the Navarra Arena contracts and the Belate tunnels are circumstantial within a document dedicated to Santos Cerdán's personal assets. They also maintain that the agents do not establish a direct influence of the former socialist leader over the decisions adopted by the Navarrese Administration.

The Government has also provided a temporal argument. The first certification of the Belate works occurred on June 13, 2024, and the corresponding payment arrived several weeks later. The Executive points out that this first payment was subsequent to the moment in which, according to the UCO, the Servinabar card linked to Cerdán's family environment stopped being used.

"The report deals with particular issues of Mr. Cerdán," said sources from the regional Government, which maintain their willingness to collaborate with the Civil Guard and the courts in any requirement related to the investigated awards.

The response separates Cerdán's possible conduct from the administrative action of the Executive. UPN and the PPN reject this division and consider that the contacts, meetings, and the presence of Servinabar in public contracts keep Chivite's political responsibility open.

Pressure returns to the Parliament of Navarra

The new report comes after months of appearances in the investigation commission created by the regional Parliament to analyze different public works awards. Santos Cerdán went to the Chamber in February, initially invoked his right to remain silent and ended up answering some questions to deny receiving commissions.

The Supreme Court's investigation continues to focus on possible contract rigging and the circuit followed by money from Acciona. Cerdán is being investigated for alleged crimes of criminal organization, influence peddling, and bribery, and maintains his right to the presumption of innocence intact.

The magistrate must now decide whether to authorize access to the bank accounts of the family environment requested by the UCO. In Navarra, UPN and PP are preparing new initiatives to demand explanations from Chivite, while the regional Government maintains that none of the police conclusions known this Friday affect the legality of its decisions.