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Leonor González Pano Confirms Aldama Told Her Ábalos Received €500,000 in Air Europa Bailout

Her Supreme Court testimony advances probes into suspected pandemic-era kickbacks linked to the Air Europa rescue.

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Overview

  • On June 4, Pano told the Supreme Court that entrepreneur Víctor de Aldama informed her in 2020 that ex-Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos received a €500,000 commission for expediting Air Europa’s rescue.
  • She clarified she did not witness the payment directly and first repeated the allegation to journalists in 2024.
  • Pano testified that Air Europa president Juan José Hidalgo arranged the funds and that they were delivered to Ábalos via his former adviser Koldo García in a sports bag.
  • The Supreme Court summoned her at the request of Ábalos’s defense and popular accusations to verify her previous statements under oath.
  • Leonor González Pano and her mother, Carmen Pano, remain under investigation in a related hydrocarbons fraud case before the National Court.