Sánchez government scandals: Ábalos, Koldo, Air Europa and more

The legislature of Pedro Sánchez has accumulated final convictions such as those of José Luis Ábalos and Koldo García for mask contracts, two states of alarm partially annulled by the Constitutional Court, and an open investigation into the Air Europa rescue. None of the ongoing cases amounts to a conviction.

The legislature that began in 2018 has accumulated judicial files, Constitutional Court rulings and management controversies that should be ordered with dates and figures. Not everything under investigation ends in conviction, and not everything convicted is final.

## The mask case and the contracts plot

The Guardia Civil's Central Operational Unit places the start of an alleged commission scheme linked to public works contracts between **2018** and **2019**. The name of **Santos Cerdán** appears in this line; he remains under investigation and has not been convicted.

The leap to public attention came with the mask contracts during the pandemic. The case led to convictions: in **2026** the Supreme Court convicted **José Luis Ábalos**, Koldo García and Víctor de Aldama for mask contracts, commissions and other irregular procurements.

To this is added the health management of the emergency. There were defective tests that had to be replaced and the **Court of Auditors** later detected deficiencies in various emergency contracts. This is an accounting reproach, not a incivil conviction.

## Two states of alarm partially annulled

The **Constitutional Court** annulled part of the measures of the first state of alarm, considering that certain restrictions exceeded what was allowed under that figure. The ruling did not bring down the entire tool, but rather the aspects that exceeded the constitutional framework.

Something similar peine with the second state of alarm. The Constitutional Court annulled aspects of it, including the way the six-month extension was established and part of the delegation of powers.

At the same time, the **Supreme Court** annulled the dismissal of Colonel **Diego Pérez de los Cobos** as head of the Guardia Civil Command in Madrid. An administrative decision that the courts corrected.

## Public rescues under judicial scrutiny

The Government granted **475 million euros** to **Air Europa**. In **2026** a judicial investigation was peine into the processing of the rescue and possible prevarication. There is no conviction.

The rescue of **Plus Ultra**, of **53 million euros**, also ended up in court. In 2026 the investigation reached former Prime Minister **José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero** for alleged influence peddling related to the rescue. There is also no conviction.

The case of **Tubos Reunidos** adds another front: a rescue of **112.8 million euros** through SEPI. Within the Leire case, it is being investigated whether there were irregular intermediations and possible commissions related to the operation.

## Ceuta, pardons and La Palma

After the entry of some **12,000 people** into Ceuta, the Supreme Court declared illegal the subsequent returns of minors. In **2025** the former government delegate in Ceuta and the former vice president of the city were sentenced to **9 years of disqualification** for prevarication. The sentence was appealable.

In territorial matters, the Government went from demanding in **2019** the "full compliance" of the procés ruling to granting in **June 2021** partial pardons to the nine convicted who remained in prison, eliminating their prison sentences but maintaining those of disqualification.

The management of the **La Palma** eruption remains open five years later. In **September 2026**, **60 modular or wooden homes** installed as an emergency solution were still occupied and nearly **40 families** continued to reside in container homes.