Madrid - Tension was mounting in Spain on Wednesday between the socialist government and the main opposition conservative People's Party (PP) after a judge named 37 people suspects in a corruption investigation involving the PP.

PP leader Mariano Rajoy announced his party was breaking off all contacts with Justice Minister Mariano Fernandez Bermejo, and demanded that judge Baltasar Garzon drop his probe.

Rajoy made the comments after the daily El Mundo said Fernandez and Garzon had gone on a hunting expedition together while the judicial investigation was being launched.

PP representative Juan Jose Guemes accused Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's socialists of using the judiciary against the PP.

Fernandez accused the PP of attacking the state in an attempt to cover up its internal problems, and said he had hardly spoken to Garzon during the hunting trip.

The suspects named by Garzon include entrepreneurs and two former PP officials.

Entrepreneur Francisco Correa is suspected of masterminding a corruption network affecting building permits and lucrative contracts granted by PP municipal councils in Madrid, Valencia and other regions.

The scandal came at a bad time for the PP, making it difficult for the party to focus on attacking the socialists over Spain's economic crisis ahead of the Basque and Galician regional elections on March 1. (dpa)