Spain’s former transport minister José Luis Ábalos, a long-time ally of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, was sentenced on Monday to 24 years and three months in prison on corruption charges linked to the procurement of face masks during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Supreme Court also sentenced Ábalos’ former adviser, Koldo García, to 19 years, eight months and one day in prison, the court said in a statement.
Ábalos and García denied all wrongdoing throughout the trial. However, the court found that they had joined forces with businessman José Aldama to form a criminal organization that illegally enriched itself through pandemic procurement contracts.
Aldama, who confessed and cooperated with investigators, received a suspended sentence of four years and six months.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court stressed the broader consequences of the case, stating that corruption causes a “serious loss of public trust in the political system” and undermines the state's democratic foundations.
A series of corruption investigations has shaken the left-wing minority government in Madrid.
Separate inquiries have been under way involving Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, his brother, David Sánchez, and the former organizational secretary of the ruling Socialist Party (PSOE), Santos Cerdán.
More recently, investigators also opened proceedings involving former Socialist prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004–2011), who is regarded as a close political ally of Sánchez.
In the case involving the prime minister’s wife, the presiding judge ruled last week that Gómez will face trial. Pending further proceedings, she has been barred from leaving the country, ordered to surrender her passport, and required to report regularly to judicial authorities.
The government has described several of the investigations as politically motivated attacks, while opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo has accused the administration of “systemic corruption.”
Sánchez himself has not been named as a suspect or placed under judicial investigation. He continues to reject opposition demands for his resignation and a snap election.
