Overview
- Judge Leopoldo Puente opened an oral trial over alleged corruption in pandemic mask contracts and ordered Ábalos and his former adviser Koldo García to remain in pretrial custody with a €70,000 bond.
- The Supreme Court will hear the case, with charges including organized crime, bribery, influence peddling, malversation, falsification and prevarication.
- The Guardia Civil’s UCO arrested Antxón Alonso in Vizcaya after detaining ex‑PSOE member Leire Díez and former SEPI president Vicente Fernández in a probe into suspected fraudulent public contracting.
- Investigators carried out 19 searches in Madrid, Sevilla and Zaragoza, including at Forestalia, targeting firms linked to Servinabar, which sources allege functioned as a front connected to Santos Cerdán.
- The opposition Partido Popular escalated pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, with secretary general Miguel Tellado demanding political accountability following the detentions and searches.