Koldo affair
corruption scandal in Spain
The Koldo affair (Spanish: Caso Koldo) or Ábalos affair (Caso Ábalos), is an ongoing corruption prosecution conducted by the Supreme Court of Spain that began on 28 February 2024. The case is centred around José Luis Ábalos (the former transport minister) and his former advisor Koldo García Izaguirre. The case involves several political figures, primarily close allies of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and was originally sparked by questions over the purchase of masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over time, the case started to be linked to a series of other scandals which had come about during Sánchez's second and third ministries, including the Delcygate scandal of 2020, in which the Venezuelan minister met with key government figures despite being under international sanctions; an ongoing case surrounding Sánchez's wife Begoña Gómez; and a series of affairs by José Luis Ábalos that involved close relations being employed in government despite having little experience and receiving large benefits.
Background
Spain was one of the countries most seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a significant impact on the economy and Spanish society. In April 2022, Spanish prosecutors opened an investigation into Soluciones de Gestión y Apoyo a Empresas (SGAE), a business services firm, over six suspicious public contracts awarded to it for the sale of health equipment in the COVID-19 pandemic, which were not subjected to the usual bidding process due to urgent need. The contracts involved several government agencies, as follows:
21 March 2020: Ports of the State, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Transport, purchased 8 million masks for €24.2 million.
27 March 2020: Adif, another subsidiary of the same government department, purchased 5 million masks for €12.5 million.
20 April 2020: the Secretariat of State for Security, which is under the Ministry of the Interior, purchased health equipment for €3.5 million.
22 April 2020: the Government of the Canary Islands paid €7.3 million through its public health body for masks.
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