Overview
- The trial opened Tuesday at the Audiencia Nacional with a 13-minute hearing limited to preliminary matters and the court summoning the parties for a fuller session next Monday.
- Ignacio González denied guilt when asked by the court and will be tried alongside his brother, his brother-in-law and two former Canal officials on charges of bribery linked to two golf-course contracts.
- Fiscalía Anticorrupción has asked for six years in prison and a fine for the five defendants, saying the Canal leadership steered contracts to a company called TCT so relatives could profit through subcontracts and fictitious invoices.
- Prosecutors told the court that a key financial expert from the state audit office, IGAE, has died and that the long delay in bringing the case forward—already acknowledged as excessive by courts—could be treated as an attenuating factor that lowers recommended penalties.
- This trial is one of three Lezo prosecutions against González with two further trials due in 2027 seeking an additional 12 years and the outcome here could shape how delays and missing evidence affect overall sentencing and public trust in Madrid's public contracts.