Spain's Supreme Court sentences ex-minister Ábalos to 24 years in pandemic mask corruption case, a ruling called historic
Spain's Supreme Court has sentenced former transport minister José Luis Ábalos to 24 years and three months in prison for corruption in mask procurement during the covid-19 pandemic, a ruling that commentators described as one of the harshest ever against a Spanish government member.
The verdict
The Supreme Court's criminal chamber convicted Ábalos, once the second most powerful figure in the ruling Socialist Party, of criminal organisation, bribery, embezzlement and influence peddling. His former adviser Koldo García was sentenced to 19 years and eight months, and businessman Víctor de Aldama, identified by investigators as the head of the network, received four and a half years.
- José Luis Ábalos
- 24.25 years
- Koldo García
- 19.67 years
- Víctor de Aldama
- 4.5 years
The court found that Ábalos and García used their "normative, functional and material hierarchical ascendancy" to steer contracts worth 13 million euros for mask supplies to firms linked to Aldama, who personally gained more than six million euros from the deals. Ábalos demanded 2.5 million euros and Koldo another half million in return, according to the ruling.
Political shockwaves
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez avoided any mention of the sentence during a morning speech on EU recovery funds, focusing instead on economic achievements and calling on opposition parties to support upcoming government decrees. Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo announced he would address the media at 1:30 p.m. from party headquarters.
We are facing one of the harshest sentences ever imposed on a member of a Spanish government. It is a sentence that makes history in Spain and a very hard day for the party in power, whose number two has been sentenced to 24 years in prison.
Segovia, deputy editor of El Mundo, stressed the especially shameful nature of profiting from mask contracts during the pandemic.
The collaboration discount
The court suspended Aldama's prison term under Article 82 of the penal code, citing his confession, provision of documents, and favourable prognosis of not reoffending, despite him having spread false allegations in the media during the proceedings. He must still pay 431,000 euros in joint compensation with Ábalos and García.
It is not understood how it is possible that the people who took a paid apartment for the girlfriend get 24 years in prison and the one who took 3.7 million euros in commissions walks free.
The elDiario.es director contrasted the treatment with the Gürtel case, where the whistleblower who initiated the investigation was jailed and the ringleader never received comparable leniency.
Judicial and institutional impact
The three magistrates reached their decision unanimously, strengthening the sentence against potential appeals. Prosecutor Alejandro Luzón saw all his main requests upheld, including a qualified mitigating factor for Aldama that Attorney General Teresa Peramato had attempted to block. The editorial of ABC called the ruling a historic benchmark for measuring corruption committed under the cover of political power, noting that it sends a clear message to defendants in the many pending cases linked to the government and the Socialist Party.
