Spain’s Supreme Court sentences former transport minister José Luis Ábalos to 24 years in prison for corruption offences linked to COVID-19 procurement. Multiple outlets report that Ábalos is convicted of taking bribes connected to public contracts for sanitary equipment during the pandemic, including face masks. The conviction is described as a major development for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez because Ábalos is widely viewed as a close ally and former “right-hand man.”
Several sources also reference the related case of Ábalos’s aide, Koldo García, who was previously jailed for 19 years in connection with the same wider scandal. The reporting places the verdict within a broader pattern of corruption investigations and court proceedings affecting figures around Sánchez and the governing Socialist Party. Courthouse News notes separate cases involving Sánchez’s wife and brother, with additional legal pressure on the government. None of the coverage says Sánchez is charged in this particular case.
