Judge keeps Colonel Antonio Balas on PSOE 'cloacas' probe with permanent appointment

The ruling

On Tuesday, 27 October 2026, Judge Santiago Pedraz of the Audiencia Nacional extended the appointment of Colonel Antonio Balas of the Guardia Civil as head of the UCO unit that investigates the Leire Díez case, according to an order (providencia) reviewed by several Spanish outlets. The extension is permanent, and Pedraz wrote that neither Balas's promotion nor a possible transfer should remove him from the post. El Mundo reports that the judge acted at the request of the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office. The case, which some outlets call the PSOE 'cloacas' affair, concerns an alleged plot led by former PSOE member Leire Díez and former party organisation secretary Santos Cerdán to derail court cases touching the government and the family of Pedro Sánchez.

Why the judge cited complexity

Pedraz grounded the decision in what he described as the 'extraordinary complexity' of the proceedings and their 'special institutional and legal significance'. He said the current stage of the inquiry requires guaranteeing its continuity, integrity, effectiveness, confidentiality and impartiality, and he argued that the investigation calls for a stable operational leadership.

“This investigation has characteristics that advise preserving the stability of its operational direction, avoiding organisational changes.”

In the same order he said the extension rests on exceptional reasons and public interest. El País reports that the arrangement runs until the investigation concludes and comes ahead of the expiry of the temporary secondment that kept Balas in the unit. According to El País, Pedraz's wording is firmer than that of Ismael Moreno, who had only said Balas played 'a relevant role' in advancing the inquiry.

Balas's promotion and secondment

Balas's promotion to colonel was published in the Defence Ministry's official bulletin in September. ABC reports that in July judge Ismael Moreno, who leads the Koldo case, and the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office asked that Balas be allowed to complete his inquiries. Defence Minister Margarita Robles then agreed to keep him in place through a service secondment, a temporary posting that El País says is normally capped at one year but can be extended in exceptional cases. The Koldo case concerns alleged corruption involving former transport minister José Luis Ábalos and his former adviser Koldo García. El País frames the new order as a response to the risk that the promotion could later force Balas out of the unit.

Balas's role in the investigations

ABC describes Balas as one of the main targets of the alleged scheme led by Leire Díez and Santos Cerdán. The same outlet reports that Díez said, at a meeting attended among others by lawyer Jacobo Teijelo and businessman Javier Pérez Dolset, that it would be better if Balas were dead. ABC also describes his work as fundamental in the Koldo case, including the Mascarillas trial at the Supreme Court. El Confidencial says Balas currently heads the economic and anticorruption investigation department of the UCO, the Guardia Civil unit that has investigated the main corruption cases affecting the PSOE and the entourage of Pedro Sánchez.

What the order leaves open

The order does not name a new posting for Balas, and the articles do not say whether any transfer is planned. The ruling is tied to the conclusion of the proceedings rather than to a fixed date. El País notes that corruption investigations of this kind usually run for several more years. The sources give no timetable for when the probe will close.