The Supreme Court sentenced former minister José Luis Ábalos on 22 June 2026 to 24 years and three months in prison, shifting Spain’s political debate. The convictions concern a pandemic-era mask-contract case and include criminal organization, bribery, embezzlement and influence peddling. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the Partido Popular (PP), ruled out a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. He argued that the opposition lacked the votes to pass one and that a failed attempt could strengthen the government. The PP is instead pressing for early elections and demanding that Sánchez’s parliamentary partners clarify whether they still support him.
The case also involved Ábalos’s former adviser Koldo García Izaguirre and businessman Víctor de Aldama. The Supreme Court sentenced them to 19 years and eight months and four years and six months, respectively. The judgment addressed irregularities in mask contracts and Ábalos’s intervention in the hiring of Jéssica Rodríguez by public companies Ineco and Tragsatec. The court found that she received remuneration without doing the corresponding work, with help from García. Rent for a property she used was paid through a network linked to Aldama.
Ábalos was a senior Socialist figure and minister in Sánchez’s government. He also played a central role in the 2018 no-confidence motion that removed Mariano Rajoy. That motion brought Sánchez to power, making the later conviction of a former minister from his government particularly consequential. On 14 October 2026, the Supreme Court rejected the defence’s nullity application, leaving the conviction in force at that stage. Ábalos has said he intends to seek relief through an amparo appeal before Spain’s Constitutional Court.
The PP is pursuing parliamentary initiatives to call for early elections and require Sánchez’s allies to state their positions publicly. Feijóo has particularly challenged Junts and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), whose support is basic to the government’s parliamentary position. Both parties have called for early elections while ruling out an alliance with Vox. The PP’s strategy is to increase pressure on the coalition and make its partners publicly account for whether they will continue backing Sánchez.
Vox has expressed support for a no-confidence motion, but Feijóo has rejected pursuing one without sufficient votes. Under Spain’s Constitution, a constructive no-confidence motion must name an alternative candidate and secure an absolute majority in Congress. The only successful motion in recent history came in 2018, when Sánchez replaced Rajoy. The PP instead argues that parliamentary votes and initiatives demanding early elections will put the governing parties’ positions in focus.
Feijóo’s remarks come amid continuing political tensions over the Ábalos verdict and the fallout from the so-called “caso Koldo”. The PP leader has accused Sánchez of putting political survival ahead of the country’s pressing issues, arguing that the government is failing to provide solutions to millions of Spaniards. He has called for a change in government and promised what he describes as more honest and competent governance.
This latest development follows a period of heightened confrontation between the PP and the Sánchez government. Congress leadership recently blocked a basic confidence motion from the PP, intensifying the standoff. Feijóo sharply criticized the move at an event in Valencia, as detailed in this earlier report.
The government has said general elections are due in 2027 unless the state budget fails to pass, which could bring an earlier vote. The PP’s parliamentary initiatives are intended to press Sánchez’s partners, including Junts and the PNV, to state publicly whether they continue to support his government.
