Judith Martínez Gámez, the Commercial Director of Madrid’s Hipódromo de la Zarzuela, submitted her resignation on Thursday following reports that connected her to meetings between former PSOE Organization Secretary Santos Cerdán and several business figures. Her resignation was confirmed this morning, as first reported by The Objective and later verified by El Debate. As of today, Martínez is no longer part of the staff at the public company, which is managed by SEPI under the Spanish Ministry of Finance.
The departure takes place following reports that Santos Cerdán—now in custody awaiting trial due to his suspected involvement in a significant corruption scandal linked to the PSOE—utilized a private dining area at La Cantina inside the Hipódromo to conduct confidential discussions with business figures. One of the recent gatherings included Ernesto Gasco, a former top advisor at Moncloa and an aide of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Both Gasco and Martínez had earlier been employed at the High Commissioner’s Office for the Battle Against Child Poverty.
According to internal sources at the Hipódromo, this private space was a preferred meeting location for Cerdán due to its discretion, offering privacy away from political scrutiny—though not from the attention of investigators. The longstanding personal and professional ties between Cerdán, Judith Martínez, and her partner, businessman Óscar Arizcuren (a former UPN leader), have raised red flags over potential conflicts of interest and the use of public institutions for private 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.
Meanwhile, Arizcuren, a public servant at AENA, reportedly benefited from Cerdán’s political influence, allowing him to avoid remote assignments and retain a high-paying position in Madrid. In 2021, Cerdán allegedly played a key role in his appointment as Director of Institutional Relations and European Public Affairs at AENA, a position with a salary exceeding €120,000 per year. During that time, Arizcuren and Martínez moved into an upscale apartment near El Retiro Park, which also serves as the registered address of multiple private companies.
The situation has ignited anger among rival political parties. The Partido Popular (PP) has urged the immediate halt of any severance packages or compensation to Cerdán after his incarceration and has requested complete openness about the utilization of public facilities and appointments driven by political motives.
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.
