Published on •Updated
Spain’s Supreme Court has sentenced former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos, once a senior figure in Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party (PSOE), to 24 years in prison for his role in a corruption scheme linked to the award of face mask contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The court also sentenced his former aide Koldo García to 19 years in prison and businessman Víctor de Aldama to four and a half years.
The ruling, unanimously adopted by a seven-judge panel, found that the three men formed a criminal organisation with clearly defined roles aimed at obtaining financial benefits through corrupt practices. Ábalos and García were convicted of offences including participation in a criminal organisation, bribery, embezzlement of public funds and influence peddling.
According to the judgment, the scheme played a role in the awarding of contracts for the supply of 13 million face masks to Spain’s state-owned entities Puertos del Estado and railway infrastructure operator Adif through a company linked to Aldama during the most critical stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The court found that Ábalos received a series of benefits in exchange for promoting business interests. These included a monthly payment of €10,000 for what were described as his “fixed expenses”, the payment of housing costs for a person in his inner circle and the hiring of two women linked to the former minister at public companies overseen by the Transport Ministry.
Judges also considered proven several real-estate transactions connected to the scheme. These included a rent-to-buy agreement between Aldama and Ábalos for a property in Madrid, as well as similar arrangements involving homes in Marbella and La Línea de la Concepción.
The court linked those operations to efforts undertaken on behalf of business interests, including actions related to the publication of a statement concerning the government-backed rescue of airline Air Europa and the granting of a hydrocarbons licence.
Political implications for Sánchez
The ruling is a major political blow for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, even though he was not accused in the case. Ábalos was one of Sánchez’s closest allies during the Socialist leader’s rise to power and served both as Transport Minister and as the PSOE’s powerful organisation secretary, a role overseeing the party’s internal structure and election machinery.
The conviction comes as Sánchez faces mounting pressure from opposition parties over a series of separate corruption investigations involving current and former figures linked to his political and personal circle. While the cases are distinct and no court has implicated the Prime Minister personally in wrongdoing, opponents have argued that they point to broader governance and accountability problems within the governing Socialist Party.
The Supreme Court’s decision is particularly significant because it is the first major final conviction involving a former senior member of Sánchez’s administration. The verdict is likely to intensify political scrutiny of the government and provide fresh ammunition to the opposition, which has repeatedly called on Sánchez to take political responsibility for scandals involving former allies and associates.