Ábalos mask scandal: 24-year jail term upheld

Madrid, 14 October 2026: Former Spanish transport minister José Luis Ábalos still faces 24 years in jail after the Supreme Court rejects his bid to overturn his conviction in the mask contracts scandal. The court also upholds a 19-year term for his former adviser Koldo García on Wednesday. It convicted both men in June of involvement in a criminal organisation, bribery, influence peddling and embezzlement.

The judges say they had already examined the men’s arguments in the original ruling. A request to void a judgment is not a chance to put the same case again, they say. Spain’s Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office had also urged the court to reject both requests.

The case centres on contracts for 13 million masks awarded by transport bodies, including State Ports and rail infrastructure company Adif, to Soluciones de Gestión, a firm linked to businessman Víctor de Aldama. The judges found irregularities in the awards and a monthly payment of €10,000 towards Ábalos’s “fixed expenses”. Two women linked to Ábalos, Claudia Montes and Jéssica Rodríguez, got jobs in public companies. The group paid Rodríguez’s rent.

The court also found that the three men had agreed to use Ábalos’s position to help Aldama’s firms win public contracts in return for money. Aldama received a four-year sentence for involvement in a criminal organisation and bribery. He can avoid prison because he cooperated with the justice system, provided he commits no further offences.

Topics: Court cases

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com