Ábalos sentenced to 24 years in Spain's face mask corruption case

Ábalos, 24 years: the pardon his son demands and Moncloa will never grant

Víctor Ábalos, son of the former Socialist minister, has stepped into the spotlight to request a pardon that, judging by the signals from Government circles, is not going to happen. His father, José Luis Ábalos, has just been sentenced to 24 years in prison in the first trial over the face mask case. A sentence that, according to the analysis circulating in judicial circles, is only the beginning.

The face mask case, which broke out in 2020, has been weeding out those responsible. Of the 12 emergency contracts worth 326 million euros that Madrid's PP reported to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office in March 2022, only Ábalos and his adviser Koldo have fallen. The rest of those implicated — including companies linked to the circle of the then Health Minister, Salvador Illa — have dodged the dock. The general impression is that the PSOE leadership has thrown its own under the bus.

The other cases awaiting Ábalos

But the 24-year sentence is not the only problem. Other cases remain pending, such as the hydrocarbons case and the Delcy case, which could extend his time behind bars even further. His defence strategy, as seen at the trial, appears to have relied on preferential treatment that never came. "Mafia 101," some observers sum up.

A pardon? Not in his dreams

Expectations of a pardon are nil. The Government's circle, which in other cases has used this figure as a political escape valve, has little incentive to act here: leaving Ábalos in prison keeps the spotlight away from other responsibilities at Moncloa. Pedro Sánchez himself, according to some analyses, appears to be losing control of the situation within the party, where voices are already questioning his narrative.

With a 24-year sentence and more cases on the horizon, the son's request sounds like a desperate gesture. Justice, at least in this case, is moving forward without a safety net.