Spain’s Supreme Court on Monday started preparations for the country’s former transport minister, José Luis Ábalos (main image), once a close ally of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, to face trial on corruption charges.
The ruling marks a new blow for Sánchez’s socialist-led coalition government, already reeling from a string of graft cases involving former party figures and even members of the prime minister’s family — a sharp contrast to Sánchez’s 2018 pledge to bring integrity back to Spanish politics.
The accusations against Ábalos stem from an alleged scheme of kickbacks linked to public contracts for pandemic-era medical supplies. The Supreme Court has also proposed Ábalos’s former adviser, Koldo García, and businessman Víctor de Aldama to stand trial, according to Spanish media.
All three face multiple counts, including corruption, influence peddling, participation in a criminal organisation, and embezzlement of public funds.
The affair, which exploded in February 2024 after García’s arrest, exposed a network that allegedly enabled a small company to win €53 million in government contracts to provide masks during the Covid-19 crisis, generating illicit commissions worth several million euros. ALSO READ: Former Spanish transport minister denies corruption allegations in court.
Ábalos, once a senior PSOE figure and one of Sánchez’s most trusted lieutenants, was expelled from the party soon after the scandal broke. The case, widely referred to as the ‘Koldo affair’, has since widened into additional investigations, including alleged wrongdoing within the PSOE itself. ALSO READ: Former Spanish transport minister ‘given Marbella villa stay for helping airline bailout’.
Last Thursday, Sánchez appeared before a Senate committee for five hours, firmly denying any impropriety and insisting his party’s finances were ‘absolutely clean’. ALSO READ: Spanish PM denies corruption in rowdy senate hearing, calling it a ‘circus’ and ‘witch hunt’.
After Ábalos’s expulsion, he was replaced as organisational secretary by Santos Cerdán, who was later put in custody for taking bribes in a related branch of the corruption probe. ALSO READ: Judge orders pre-trial detention for PSOE’s former organisation secretary.
In response to mounting pressure, Sánchez announced a new anti-corruption package in July, though he has refused to heed opposition calls to step down, particularly from the right-wing People’s Party (PP). ALSO READ: Pedro Sánchez: ‘There are judges doing politics and politicians trying to do justice’.
Adding to the government’s woes, separate probes have targeted Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, and his brother, David Sánchez, keeping the government under sustained scrutiny. ALSO READ: Brother of Spanish prime minister to face trial for alleged influence peddling.
Meanwhile, in a parallel case, Spain’s socialist-appointed Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz went on trial on Monday, accused of leaking confidential information about the partner of Madrid’s powerful PP leader, further intensifying the country’s ongoing political scandal. ALSO READ: Spain’s Attorney General stands trial over allegations of leaking confidential information.
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