Spanish authorities authorized the interception of businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés’s phone in early 2026, five years after the public contracts at the center of a high-profile investigation were awarded. National Court judge Antonio Piña approved the measure at the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), allowing the Guardia Civil’s Central Operative Unit (UCO) to monitor Barrabés’s calls for two months. The surveillance formed part of a broader inquiry into alleged irregularities in contracts awarded by Red.es, a public entity under Spain’s Ministry for Digital Change.
The investigation concerns two 2021 contracts awarded to a consortium involving Innova Next, a company owned by Barrabés, and The Valley. Their combined value is reported at approximately €8 million, with the supplied case account putting the total at €8.4 million. At least one individual Red.es award has been reported at roughly €4 million and linked to European funding. The sums are the value of contracts under examination, not a judicial finding of financial loss or wrongdoing. Investigators have examined possible offenses including malfeasance and embezzlement. They are also examining possible influence peddling. Luis Prieto, Red.es’s director of Digital Economy, is also under investigation.
The contracts inquiry emerged from proceedings connected to Begoña Gómez but has followed a separate judicial track. Barrabés had advised Gómez in connection with the creation of the Cátedra Extraordinaria de Cambio Social Competitiva at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. The Audiencia Provincial de Madrid has distinguished the question of the public awards’ legality from the proceedings concerning Gómez, removing Barrabés from the jury track while allowing the contract investigation to continue. The court’s stated focus remains the legality of the public-contract awards. The procedural decisions do not amount to a final ruling on whether they were lawful.
Judge Piña described the wiretap as “appropriate and necessary,” citing contradictions between witness statements and internal Red.es emails analyzed by the UCO. The order raised concerns that staff testimony could be affected by hierarchical or employment relationships with Prieto and Red.es. Investigators sought to establish whether people above Prieto had played a role in steering contracts toward Barrabés’s consortium.
More than 60 people have testified at the EPPO’s Madrid office, including Gómez, who denied that government discussions about the contracts had taken place. Red.es employees said they had faced no pressure or interference in the awards. UCO reports, but, identified internal emails that investigators viewed as indicating a preference for Barrabés’s bid within Prieto’s team, prompting further scrutiny of the selection process.
The wiretap was conducted between March and April 2026 as part of a separate, confidential case file opened at the prosecutor’s request. Accounts cited in the investigation said it produced no impressive new evidence and was not extended. Spanish law limits the use of such surveillance to investigations involving crimes punishable by at least three years in prison, as well as certain offenses linked to organized crime or terrorism.
In 2024, Madrid Investigative Court No. 41, led by Judge Juan Carlos Peinado, ordered a forensic copy of Barrabés’s phone. The Provincial Court later annulled the analysis and ordered the data destroyed, citing insufficient justification and Barrabés’s hospitalization at the time. The ruling stressed that the search for evidence must stay within legal limits.
The investigation has also examined letters of support Barrabés received in connection with one of the contracts, including a letter from Gómez in her capacity as a university program director. The inquiry has been expanded to a third contract, with investigators examining possible malfeasance and fraud affecting the financial interests of the European Union. The contract investigation remains distinct from the proceedings involving Gómez, and the allegations have not been established by a final judgment.
Red.es promotes digital change in Spain and manages projects financed in part with European funds. The EPPO, operational since 2021 and headquartered in Luxembourg, investigates and prosecutes crimes affecting the EU’s financial interests, including suspected fraud involving EU funding. Its involvement places the Red.es awards within that remit, while the Madrid courts continue to examine whether the public-contract awards were lawful. No final ruling on that question has been identified.
