Overview
- The Tribunal Supremo unanimously found former transport minister José Luis Ábalos guilty and sentenced him to 24 years and three months in prison in the 'mascarillas' procurement case, a verdict reported on Monday that the court said reflects serious corruption linked to pandemic contracts.
- Ábalos’s ex‑adviser Koldo García received a 19‑year sentence and businessman Víctor de Aldama was given four years and six months, with execution of Aldama’s sentence suspended after his cooperation with investigators.
- Judge Juan Carlos Peinado ordered an oral jury trial for Begoña Gómez, removed her passport, barred her from leaving Spain and required fortnightly court sign‑ins, measures that Moncloa and senior ministers have publicly criticized as excessive.
- The Consejo General del Poder Judicial has opened disciplinary proceedings against Judge Peinado, and the government has scheduled a congressional appearance by Pedro Sánchez and a PSOE federal committee meeting this week as it mounts a political response.
- In Argentina prosecutors signalled they will seek copies of videos showing Jesica Cirio with bundles of dollars linked to spaces associated with Martín Insaurralde, a developing evidentiary lead in a federal probe of alleged illicit enrichment.