Lorraine Williamson
One of Spain’s biggest pandemic-era political scandals has now moved into its courtroom phase. The Ábalos Koldo masks trial opened this Tuesday at the Supreme Court, with former transport minister José Luis Ábalos, his former adviser Koldo García, and businessman Víctor de Aldama facing trial over alleged illegal commissions linked to mask contracts awarded during the Covid emergency.
The case now before the Supreme Court is the first trial to emerge from the wider caso Koldo, which still has other strands under investigation elsewhere. Spain’s top court fixed the start date for 7 April at 10.00 am after rejecting preliminary objections from the defences, and said the three defendants would stand trial over alleged bribery, influence peddling, misuse of public funds, criminal organisation, misuse of privileged information, forgery and misconduct in public office.
RTVE’s explainer says prosecutors allege the three worked together to obtain a shared economic benefit by steering public procurement towards companies linked to Aldama, taking advantage of Ábalos’s institutional and party roles at the time. The main contracts at the centre of this branch of the case relate to mask purchases made during the pandemic, when emergency procedures allowed faster public procurement.
What is being tested in court
According to RTVE, prosecutors are seeking 24 years in prison for Ábalos and 19 and a half years for Koldo García, while Aldama faces a lower requested sentence of seven years because he cooperated with investigators. The court had already accepted more than 75 witnesses and around 20 experts, and RTVE says the Supreme Court has scheduled 13 hearings running until 30 April.
That makes this more than a symbolic opening day. It is the first full judicial test of a scandal that has dragged through Spanish politics for months, and it brings a mix of contract allegations, claimed favours, and questions over whether people close to Ábalos benefited from the network prosecutors describe.
The first session opened with denials
The morning began with written testimony from Francina Armengol and Ángel Víctor Torres, both called because they led the Balearic and Canary Islands governments when some of the mask purchases under scrutiny were made. RTVE and Cadena SER both report that they denied intervening in the contracting of Soluciones de Gestión, the company linked to Aldama, and said decisions were taken through technical or administrative channels rather than political orders.
The first witness was Víctor Ábalos, the former minister’s son. RTVE says he denied ever acting as the custodian of hidden money for his father and insisted that any transfers between them were documented, including a personal loan. He also rejected the suggestion that references to “coffee” in conversations with Koldo García were coded language rather than literal requests.
Later evidence is expected to focus on the alleged hiring of Jéssica Rodríguez, a former partner of Ábalos, in public companies, alongside claims over accommodation allegedly paid for as part of the favours prosecutors say formed part of the arrangement. EFE reports that several witnesses in the first session were called specifically over those alleged appointments and related benefits.
Why this matters politically
The story matters because it blends a pandemic procurement scandal with a figure who once sat close to the centre of power in the PSOE. Although this is a criminal court case rather than a parliamentary battle, the names surrounding the hearing ensure it will keep spilling back into national politics, especially as other branches of caso Koldo continue outside this specific trial.
It also marks a change in tone. For months, the scandal has moved through leaks, investigations and procedural fights. Now it enters a more disciplined stage, where claims, denials and accusations will be tested session by session in open court. That does not settle guilt or innocence, but it does raise the stakes considerably for everyone involved. This last point is an inference based on the formal start of the trial and the length and scope of the witness list.
The next courtroom phase is now underway
For InSpain.news readers, the clearest angle is this: a scandal born in the chaos of the pandemic has moved into its most serious public stage yet. The hearing that opened on Tuesday, 7 April, is not the end of the affair, but it is the point where Spain’s Supreme Court begins to test whether the prosecution’s case can hold up under sustained scrutiny.