The leader of the PSOE, Pedro Sánchez, has categorically denied ever having met with Víctor de Aldama after a photo of him with Aldama, taken by Koldo García during a PSOE rally in Madrid in February 2019, was published. This statement came in response to the resignation demand from Alberto Núñez Feijóo, president of the Xunta of Galicia, who used the photograph as evidence that Sánchez was acquainted with the commissioner.
Until now, Sánchez had avoided directly answering questions about his relationship with Aldama, both in Congress and with the media. According to reports from this same year related to the corruption investigation involving Begoña Gómez, Sánchez's wife, it is known that she had meetings with Aldama and the CEO of Air Europa, Javier Hidalgo, at several events.
In this context, the president of the Government has explained for the first time directly his connection with Aldama, who is in provisional prison for a hydrocarbon fraud case. The PSOE has released a video with selfies of Sánchez with anonymous people at various political events to support his position.
Additionally, it has been revealed that Sánchez met with Hidalgo at the Air Europa headquarters during the summer of 2020, in the midst of the pandemic and amid negotiations for the airline's rescue by the Government. The meeting with Aldama took place in an exclusive area during a rally at the La Latina theater in Madrid.
Sánchez has blamed the political and media right for trying to link him with Aldama and has highlighted that one cannot choose with whom they take a photograph. In response to Feijóo, Sánchez also compared his situation to that of the Galician politician, recalling a photo from the 1990s in which Feijóo appears with the drug trafficker Marcial Dorado, and added that one can indeed choose with whom to go on vacation. These statements were made during an informal conversation with journalists on his way to Oman for an official visit.
