Overview
- The Guardia Civil's UCO carried out fresh searches, seized documents and briefly detained six people in early November, including Andrea de la Torre, who was released and invoked her right to silence when questioned.
- Andrea de la Torre is the 28-year-old partner of convicted ex-minister José Luis Ábalos and worked at Renfe subsidiary Logirail from 2022 to 2024 before buying a flat and garage in late 2023.
- Police patrimonial analysis links De la Torre to a small real-estate company, Galvanostudio SL, and investigators are examining those corporate and property moves as possible paths for layering or hiding proceeds.
- UCO files already referenced messages between Ábalos and his former aide Koldo García that discussed payments to De la Torre and a possible €130,000 mortgage, material now being re-examined after the seizures.
- Ábalos, speaking from prison, criticized the timing of the operation and said the raid harmed his partner, while the investigation continues to probe transfers, property purchases and possible crypto routes as it develops.