Briefing
The Criminal Chamber of Spain’s Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo) on 14 October 2026 rejected the Incidente de nulidad filed by those convicted, thereby upholding the judgments of 22 June 2026 A court document (auto) dated 7 October and running to around 80 pages sets out that the alleged violations of rights raised should not be examined through the exceptional mechanism of the Incidente de nulidad. The decision exhausts the ordinary avenues of appeal; those convicted may bring a constitutional appeal (amparo) before the Tribunal Constitucional is open.
Specifically, the Tribunal Supremo upheld the sentences imposed in June: José Luis Ábalos was sentenced to a total of 24 years and three months in prison, while his former adviser Koldo García received 19 years and eight months. In the court’s view, the convictions concern offences including membership of a criminal organisation, bribery (cohecho), embezzlement (malversación) and usurpation of public functions or influence peddling (tráfico de influencias), in connection with contracts for protective masks during the coronavirus pandemic and alleged favouritism in recruitment at public companies.
According to the Chamber, the June judgment was based on extensive consideration of the evidence; the defence had alleged, among other things, a breach of the rights of defence and the presumption of innocence. The Tribunal Supremo considers these complaints to have already been examined or unsuitable for the Incidente de nulidad stage.
The businessman Víctor de Aldama, named as a participant in the proceedings, received a lighter sentence with supervisory conditions and, according to the decisions, remains in part not subject to imprisonment.
In terms of appeals, Ábalos and García may now bring a constitutional appeal before the Tribunal Constitucional; its admissibility and prospects of success will have to be assessed separately. In any event, the Supreme Court’s decision of 14 October 2026 ends the ordinary judicial examination of the main case and confirms the procedural position established on 22 June 2026.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).