Spain: calls grow for Ábalos to do more than resign

José Luis Ábalos being formally charged in the Koldo case has led sectors of Spain's PSOE to demand accountability that goes beyond resignation. A viral post sums up the internal discontent: giving up his seat is not enough.

The Koldo case keeps dragging on and the spotlight is back on **José Luis Ábalos**. The post on X by **Saúl N. Lab** with the message "resigning is not enough" has reignited the debate over what the former Transport Minister should do. Ábalos being charged by Spain's National Court as part of the Koldo case, which investigates the payment of commissions on mask purchases during the pandemic, has put the former number two of the PSOE on the ropes.

## The charges that changed everything

Ábalos's situation stopped being an image problem and became a judicial matter when the investigating judge, **Ismael Moreno**, decided to charge him with incivil organisation, influence peddling and bribery. The investigation places the former minister at the centre of a scheme that allegedly collected multi-million commissions on the sale of medical supplies to several public administrations between **2020 and 2021**.

The PSOE reacted quickly: it asked him to give up his seat and suspended his party membership. But for part of the party, that is not enough. The post circulating these days condenses that discontent: resigning from his seat does not erase the political responsibility of someone who was a minister during the worst months of the pandemic.

## The parliamentary seat and parliamentary immunity

Ábalos keeps his seat in Congress. And that is the crux of the matter. Parliamentary immunity means any incivil case against members of parliament must go through the Supreme Court, which slows down proceedings. That legal protection is what some sectors consider incompatible with the seriousness of the accusations.

The socialist leadership has avoided saying whether he should give up his seat. **Pedro Sánchez** has stayed silent on the matter in recent public appearances. Internal discontent, however, is evident: MPs and regional officials have privately expressed their discomfort at the case continuing to splash onto the party just months before the elections.

## A case that keeps growing

The Koldo case began as an investigation into an alleged scam in mask purchases and has ended up splashing half a dozen institutions. The scheme allegedly operated through **Soluciones de Gestión**, a shell company that acted as intermediary in public contracts worth millions of euros. The judicial investigation remains open and there is no final ruling.

The viral post offers no new evidence, but it does capture a mood: the feeling that Spanish politics has normalised charged politicians keeping their seats while the courts do their job. Whether that is enough or not is a question the PSOE will have to answer sooner or later.