EuropeAnalysis

Face mask scandal puts Spanish coalition under pressure

Former brothel bouncer at heart of alleged corruption case

Spain's prime minister Pedro Sanchez: his left-wing coalition has been struggling through the beginning of the current legislature, due in great part to its narrow parliamentary majority which relies on Catalan nationalists. Photograph: Manuaure Quintero/Bloomnberg

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Guy Hedgecoe in Madrid
Wed Mar 6 2024 - 17:54

A corruption scandal linked to the purchase of medical equipment during the pandemic has put Spain’s fragile coalition government under pressure while also forcing opposition politicians to deny having had a role in the case.

Investigators believe that the company Soluciones de Gestión y Apoyo a Empresas SL received more than €53 million in 2020 and 2021 through overpriced contracts to procure face masks and other material for several Spanish institutions, including the regional governments of the Canary and Balearic Islands. Many of the masks provided were not of the quality required.

The European Public Prosecutor is investigating to see whether EU funds were misused.

Among those identified as playing a key part in the network is Koldo García, who was a close adviser to José Luis Ábalos, a Socialist politician who was transport minister during the pandemic.

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Questions have been raised as to how Mr García, formerly a bouncer in a brothel, held such a prominent role in the ministry and apparently managed to amass €1.5 million in assets in two years. He also held a position in state rail company Renfe and within the national port authority.

“It is necessary to let Spaniards know how many ‘Koldos’ there are in our institutions and why there is no firewall around suspected improper behaviour,” said El País newspaper.

The revelations about the investigation have put Mr Ábalos, once a close ally of prime minister Pedro Sánchez, under intense scrutiny. Last week the Socialist Party expelled him and called on the former minister to relinquish his seat in congress. However, in a rambling and emotional appearance before the media Mr Ábalos refused to give up his seat.

The conservative opposition Popular Party (PP) has seen the scandal as an opportunity to undermine Mr Sánchez’s government. The PP’s general co-ordinator, Elías Bendodo, described Mr Sánchez as “the leader of Ábalos’s criminal organisation”.

The PP’s leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, meanwhile, accused the prime minister of knowing about the illegal activity and covering it up. The conservatives are demanding the resignation of the speaker of congress, the Socialist Francina Armengol, who was president of the Balearic region when the masks were procured.

However, so far at least the investigation has implicated neither Ms Armengol nor Mr Sánchez, while Mr Ábalos has not formally been put under investigation. Meanwhile, the Socialists have responded by pointing out that a tapped phone conversation suggested that Mr García had arranged a meeting with the PP’s parliamentary spokesman, Miguel Tellado, who has denied that this was the case. Separately, Mr Núñez Feijóo has insisted he is not the individual named as “Alberto” in investigators’ documents.

Nonetheless, the case is a substantial blow for Mr Sánchez, who first came to power in 2018 by winning a non-confidence motion against the then prime minister, Mariano Rajoy of the PP, because of a slew of corruption scandals affecting the conservatives.

Mr Sánchez’s left-wing coalition has already been struggling through the beginning of the current legislature, due in great part to its narrow parliamentary majority which relies on Catalan nationalists. In exchange for their support the prime minister has agreed to push through an amnesty law that would lift pending legal action for separatism against Catalan leaders. On Thursday a revised amnesty bill is expected to be presented to congress for imminent debate after it was rejected in January.

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