The Tribunal Supremo on 3 November 2026 confirmed the final assessment of costs in the proceedings against former prosecutor general Álvaro García Ortiz . García Ortiz must pay a total of €39,009.48 in costs. This includes €38,508 in legal fees for the representative of the private prosecution brought by Alberto González Amador as well as the separately itemised procedural fees of the intervening Procuradora.
The Criminal Chamber's decision (Sala de lo Penal) rejects the renewed objections from the public prosecutor's office and the Abogacía del Estado. It is based on an earlier assessment by the letrada de la Administración de Justicia dated 26 March 2026. At that time, certain items were disallowed as inadmissible and the original, considerably higher amount was reduced to €39,009.48. With the amount now confirmed, the dispute over costs in this branch of the proceedings is closed.
The costs order relates to García Ortiz's final conviction by the Tribunal Supremo on 9 December 2025 for the offence of revelación de secretos (unauthorised disclosure of confidential information). The case concerned the disclosure or publication of emails and a press release in the context of criminal investigations into Alberto González Amador, the partner of the regional president of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The initial bill of costs totalled almost €80,000; as the proceedings continued, the dispute focused on whether individual fee items were reasonable and admissible.
Confirmation of the assessment of costs does not reopen the conviction or its legal reasoning. However, it provides legal certainty about the financial consequences for García Ortiz. Whether, and in what form, any enforcement issues may still arise is a subsequent question that has not yet been decided.
The decision also underscores the exceptional significance of the case: it concerns scrutiny by the Supreme Court of the duties and limits of one of Spain's most senior judicial officers. Different parties have made political claims about responsibility and motives, but these are not part of the court's assessment of costs. The key point is that the Tribunal Supremo has confirmed the specified fees and expenses of €39,009.48 as reasonable and lawful.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).