Judith Martínez Gámez, who served as the Business Director of Madrid’s Hipódromo de la Zarzuela, resigned on Thursday after being linked to discussions involving past PSOE Organization Secretary Santos Cerdán and multiple entrepreneurs. Her departure was confirmed this morning, as initially disclosed by The Objective and subsequently verified by El Debate. From today, Martínez is no longer with the team at the public organization overseen by SEPI under the authority of the Spanish Ministry of Finance.
The resignation comes amid revelations that Santos Cerdán—currently in pre-trial detention for his alleged role in a major corruption case involving the PSOE—used a private dining room at the La Cantina restaurant inside the Hipódromo to host discreet meetings with businessmen. One of the last such meetings took place with Ernesto Gasco, a former senior official in Moncloa and a close associate of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Both Gasco and Martínez had previously worked at the High Commissioner’s Office for the Fight Against Child Poverty.
Based on reports from insiders at the Hipódromo, this exclusive venue was frequently chosen by Cerdán as a gathering spot for its confidentiality, providing a setting free from political oversight—though it remained under the eye of investigators. The deep-seated connections both personally and professionally between Cerdán, Judith Martínez, and her partner, entrepreneur Óscar Arizcuren (formerly a UPN leader), have sparked concerns regarding possible conflicts of interest and leveraging public establishments for personal networking.
Cerdán and Arizcuren first crossed paths more than ten years ago while they were members of the regional Parliament of Navarra, and they have preserved a strong connection ever since. In the year 2023, Ernesto Gasco and Judith Martínez moved from their roles at the High Commissioner’s Office to lead the Hipódromo—Gasco took the role of president, while Martínez became the commercial director. Additionally, Martínez invited a close friend from Navarra to take the position of her personal secretary.
At the same time, Arizcuren, who works as a public servant for AENA, seemingly gained from Cerdán’s political clout, enabling him to steer clear of distant postings and keep a lucrative job in Madrid. In 2021, claims suggest that Cerdán was instrumental in Arizcuren’s elevation to the role of Director of Institutional Relations and European Public Affairs at AENA, a position offering a salary over €120,000 annually. During this period, Arizcuren and Martínez relocated to a luxury apartment close to El Retiro Park, which is also the listed address for several private enterprises.
The controversy has sparked outrage from opposition parties. The Partido Popular (PP) has called for the immediate suspension of any severance or compensation to Cerdán following his imprisonment and demanded full transparency regarding the use of public facilities and politically motivated appointments.
The ongoing scandal keeps revealing a web of personal favors, institutional influence, and the inappropriate use of public resources, which is overshadowing the close associates of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.