The sanchismo that reappeared in Seville, unlike the traditional current of the Andalusian PSOE led by Susana Díaz, had two leaders: on the one hand, in Dos Hermanas, the historic mayor Francisco Toscano. On the other hand, in the capital, Alfonso Rodríguez Gómez de Celis. The family … politician who supported Pedro Sánchez in his conquest of power in the 2017 primaries and, a year later, of the Spanish government, has fallen from grace. It imploded because of the recent cases of corruption that have engulfed socialism, but also machismo, as happened with Francisco Salazar. Of this clan which, once Toscano retired from the political front, ruled Celis, only the embers remain.
They are divided and both accuse each other, in the internal spheres of the party, of favoring the collapse of certain personalities. This already happened with the alleged rigging of the Andalusian primaries, in which Espadas snatched the position of secretary general from Susana Díaz, with more than 800 false affiliations. In this scandal discovered by ABC last July, there were mutual accusations of so-called friendly fire.
This coincided in time and form with the frustrated appointment of Paco Salazar as deputy to the Organizing Secretariat of the PSOE, right in the middle of the Santos Cerdán earthquake. On the day the party’s federal commission was held, someone leaked to ‘eldiario.es’ the complaint of two of Salazar’s colleagues regarding allegations of sexual abuse, which ended up costing him his nomination.
The two families of Sanchismo in Seville have been broken in two with the cases of Pineda, Salazar… and the rigging of the Espadas primaries
Salazar was hired years ago by Toscano at the Dos Hermanas City Hall and an open investigation by the UCO weighs into his hiring, following a complaint from Vox in which it is claimed that Pedro Sánchez’s advisor until now was paid by the City Hall while he worked for Ferraz. This placement, which also coincides with that of his brother-in-law at the Dos Hermanas racetrack, was accompanied by a definitive explosion of complaints of misogynistic behavior.
Ferraz failed to be diligent in handling harassment complaints, since the internal structure supposed to investigate them was virtually created by Salazar. That’s why Sánchez found an honorable way out for one of his main plumbers: he hired him as an external advisor. And it is now, when the content of the complaints of the two activists allegedly harassed by the former mayor of Montellano has emerged, that corrective measures have been taken.
With Salazar down, the other firewall has been his main right-hand man: Antonio Hernández. Another historic member of the Sevillian PSOE who, still in second place, was linked with his sister Nieves to the government of Sánchez Monteseirín. Already from the municipal executive for which he was an advisor in data analysis and surveys, and before climbing the party ladder to become director of the political coordination department of the government presidency, Hernández created a consulting company with the political partners of Gómez de Celis in Seville.
Among them was Rafael Pineda, his “compadre” as he himself defines the relationship. Pineda, in this government of Monteseirín, was the entry point for the partners of some of these political partners in the municipal council. And Celis, when he was appointed by Sánchez as government delegate in Andalusia, took Pineda to the Plaza de España as chief of staff. A position that he revalidated with the successive delegates who replaced Celis upon his appointment as vice-president of the Congress, due to the pressure he exerted.
Today, Pineda is another of the clan’s missing people, after the UCO discovered a planning error made by him and his wife on municipal land, which he allegedly accessed thanks to his contacts in the government of Juan Espadas. This concession ended up generating considerable profits since the couple, along with other partners, bought it at a low price. By renting it, its sale was mortgaged on the real estate market. Ultimately, he sold it five months later for more than double.
Of all these men from Celis, there is only one survivor in the upper echelons of the PSOE: himself.
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