Pedro Sánchez tries to contain a corruption scandal shaking Spain

A corruption scandal over the sale of masks during the pandemic the involvement of an associate of a former minister very close to Pedro Sánchez has put the president of the Spanish government on the defensive, as he tries to contain the controversy.

Sánchez’s Socialist Party (PSOE) asked José Luis Ábalos, Minister of Transport until 2021, this Monday resign as a member of Congress, where it occupies a place.

Ábalos “is not under investigation (…) We do not constitute ourselves as judges, we are not public prosecutors, we do not judge”, but The Socialist Party “believes there is a political responsibility” and that is why he will have to leave office “in the next 24 hours”, PSOE spokeswoman Esther Peña said in a press conference.

The issue has been delicate ever since Ábalos was part of Pedro Sánchez’s inner circle for years and he was one of the few within the party to have remained loyal to it after being removed from the leadership of the PSOE in 2016 following disastrous election results.

Re-elected general secretary of the party in 2017 by the militants, Sánchez elevated Ábalos to third place among the socialists and appointed him minister when he became prime minister in mid-2018.

A trusted person of Ábalos, Koldo García, He was arrested last Wednesday by the police, who suspects of having received hidden commissions in contracts for the sale of masks to the public administration during the covid pandemic.

García, advisor to Ábalos and who always appeared photographed at his side, is accused of having exploited his position to obtain contracts for the sale of masksat the worst moment of the pandemic, to the benefit of a company that then paid him the commissions.

These revelations have dominated political news and newspaper and television headlines since last week.

According to the complaint presented by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, García bought three apartments in the coastal city of Benidorm between 2020 and 2022one of whom entered the name of his daughter, who was two years old at the time.

The Prosecutor’s Office specified that the sum of money received in cash by García, which did not come from his usual activities, increased in March 2020at the time of awarding contracts.

At the moment, Spain was one of the countries most affected by covid and its inhabitants were subjected to one of the most severe confinements in the world.

Ábalos denied knowledge of the affair, but of the closeness he had with Sánchez made the issue embarrassing for the Prime Ministerjust as he begins a complicated legislature due to the fragility of his support in Congress, where he depends on the votes of Catalan independentists.

Sanchez’s response

Sánchez said Saturday he will be “relentless” against corruption.

This “government born (…) from the need to put an end to the corruption of the previous administration”, has made “exemplaryness its flag”, said Sánchez, referring to his arrival in power in 2018, with a motion of censorship against the conservative government of Mariano Rajoy, weakened by a corruption scandal.

“He who lives by the sword will die by the sword”Sánchez underlined, without directly mentioning Ábalos.

The People’s Party (PP, conservative), the main opposition party, was convinced on Monday, through its spokesperson Borja Semper, that Ábalos “It’s the first chip but it’s not the last” that has to fall.

Semper accused the Socialists of wanting to use Ábalos’ resignation as a “firewall” to protect Sánchez.

To dispel any doubt, the Socialist Party itself has announced that it will propose to Congress the creation of a commission of inquiry into the matter.

Emerging figure of the PP, the regional president of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has been involved in a controversy over a commission of more than 200,000 euros received by her brother for the sale of masks in 2020.

“It’s absolutely disgusting” that people “were able to profit” from the pandemic, Esther Peña said, citing Koldo García and Díaz’s brother Ayuso.