The Tribunal Supremo on 24 September 2026 the by Audiencia Nacional imposed Inhabilitación of eight years and six months on the former president of the Diputación Provincial de León, Marcos Martínez Barazón, has been upheld with final effect. The Criminal Chamber dismissed the appeals by the convicted defendants, as well as those brought by the private prosecutors against the Audiencia Nacional’s ruling of 30 May 2023. The conviction is based on a continuing offence of prevaricación administrativa, that is, arbitrary and knowingly unlawful decisions in public administration.
The subject of the León strand of Operación Púnica was the awarding of contracts for online reputation management and institutional publicity by the provincial administration. The courts found that contracts had been structured and awarded in breach of procurement rules. The Tribunal Supremo agrees with the lower court that there was a sustained disregard for budgetary and procurement requirements, crossing the threshold into criminal prevaricación administrativa.
In addition to Marcos Martínez Barazón, the Supreme Court also upheld the inhabilitación of three other people convicted in this strand of the case. According to the rulings, bans on holding public office range from four years to eight years and six months. No prison sentences were imposed in these cases. The inhabilitación bars those convicted from holding public office or public employment, standing for election or performing public functions during the relevant period.
The Tribunal Supremo’s decision concludes the criminal assessment in the León strand; no ordinary appeals are possible. Civil or disciplinary consequences, such as recovering money paid under the contracts in question, are unaffected and may need to be dealt with separately.
Operación Púnica is a nationwide corruption scandal that has been under investigation since 2014 and comprises several groups of proceedings. The conviction now upheld relates exclusively to matters tried in León. Political assessments and organisational consequences for the Diputación Provincial de León fall outside the court’s findings and are for the relevant bodies to decide.
The Audiencia Nacional’s ruling of 30 May 2023 had set out the key factual and legal issues; the decision now issued on 24 September 2026 adopts its reasoning in substance. The inhabilitación imposed on Marcos Martínez Barazón and the other people concerned is therefore in effect.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).