The Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, was under pressure yesterday after the publication of original documents purporting to show illegal cash payments were made to him while he was a minister.
Excerpts from an accounts ledger of a secret slush fund were published by Spain's El Mundo newspaper, apparently implicating Rajoy and other senior members of the ruling Popular Party.
El Mundo said the documents showed Rajoy received secret cash payments during 1997, 1998 and 1999 when he was a minister in Jose Maria Aznar's government.
They purportedly show that in 1998 Mr Rajoy received two payments of 2.1 million pesetas ($20,580) that were undeclared and untaxed and that flouted a 1995 law barring supplementary payments to members of the government.
The ledgers were allegedly handwritten by Luis Barcenas, the disgraced former party treasurer who is in custody facing several corruption charges.
Mr Barcenas is accused of operating a slush fund to channel millions of euros in cash from businessmen to party leaders in return for kickbacks.
Mr Barcenas, who previously denied the authenticity of the ledgers, admitted the documents were genuine.
He said he had lied "as an act of loyalty" to Mr Rajoy and the party but now felt no compulsion to protect them.