Scrutiny of a public contract awarded by Red.es has intensified after the Civil Guard's Central Operative Unit (UCO) uncovered internal emails suggesting irregularities in the selection process. The investigation, now before Judge Juan Carlos Peinado, centers on whether the process favored a consortium involving The Valley and a company linked to entrepreneur Juan Carlos Barrabés. The UCO's report says the evaluation criteria may have been manipulated to benefit this bidder, raising questions about the integrity of public procurement.
The contract at the center of the inquiry was reportedly valued at approximately €4 million and financed with European funds. Separate reporting has put contracts associated with Barrabés at €8 million. Red.es, Spain's public digital-change agency, administers EU-funded programmes. Suspected fraud or corruption affecting those funds falls within the remit of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), which investigates offenses affecting the EU's financial interests.
One email analyzed by investigators, sent during the adjudication process, explicitly advised evaluators to consider Barrabés' proposal as the preferred option, implying that competing bids should be downgraded. The Civil Guard's findings, delivered to the EPPO in February, point to deliberate actions by those responsible for the assessment. They suggest subjective factors, rather than objective merit, influenced the tender's outcome. These remain allegations under investigation, not a judicial finding that the award was unlawful.
Judge Peinado clarified on June 19 that Juan Carlos Barrabés is currently the sole individual formally charged in this branch of the investigation, which focuses on alleged misconduct and fraud affecting the financial interests of the European Union. Barrabés also advised Begoña Gómez on designing the Cátedra Extraordinaria de Cambio Social Competitiva at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. That relationship forms part of the broader proceedings involving the prime minister's wife. The procurement inquiry concerns the Red.es award and its alleged impact on EU funds.
The UCO's report, first revealed by El Español and reviewed by this publication, details how the conditions for evaluating the bids directly affected the final result. Investigators argue that those conditions were intentionally designed to favor the consortium led by Barrabés, and that the evaluators knew it. They say the approach undermined the fairness and transparency expected in public tenders. The allegations have not been established by a final judgment.
Allegations of political influence and irregularities in public contract awards have surfaced in other high-profile cases in Spain in recent years. For example, a previous case involving state aid for Tubos Reunidos showed how internal contacts and lobbying efforts can affect major financial decisions, as discussed in an earlier report on government intervention in corporate bailouts.
Red.es manages EU funding for technology and innovation projects, putting its procurement under scrutiny over the protection of European public funds. The investigation forms part of the wider Begoña Gómez proceedings, but parallel controversies involving other public contracts do not establish a link to this tender. Its outcome may shape scrutiny of procurement decisions and the controls governing the allocation of EU funds in Spain.
