The beginning of José Luis Abalos’s fall from office dates back to 2021, when he was removed from his position as Minister of Transport after spending nearly a decade in the political spotlight. That year he also resigned as secretary of the PSOE. In 2024, after the Koldu case came to light, Abalos left the party to which he had belonged for more than 40 years and moved to the Mixed Group. Thus, he maintains his seat as deputy. Now, after the Civil Guard Central Operations Unit (UCO) linked him to the conspiracy that manipulated public contracts in exchange for illegal kickbacks, the Supreme Court has made a decision Send him to temporary prison No warranty With his former advisor Koldo Garcia when assessing the “severe” risks of flying.
Abalos has always been a man of party and politics, to which he has devoted more than four decades. He was born in the town of Torrent in 1959 Brags about being a communist ‘when you can’t’Since joining the Youth of the Spanish Communist Party in 1976, while this formation was still illegal. Five years later he arrived at the PSOE in Valencia, where this teaching graduate developed almost his entire political career. He was a party councilor in the Valencia City Council before becoming a councilor in the aforementioned council, a position he held between 1999 and 2007. In those years he ran in the primaries to be Secretary General of the Valencian Union. Something he never achieved.
In 2009 he made the jump to Madrid. The Socialist seat in Congress left a free space occupied by Abalos. That’s when he met Sanchez, who arrived five months later. To the president She supported him in the first primary Which he won in 2014. But it wasn’t until the seconds that he became his companion. He is one of those who rode the car in which Sanchez traveled around Spain to win again. The head of the executive authority cited him up to twelve times Resistance guidehis first book. “Until then (the second primaries) we did not discuss each other,” he points out in the text, which he identifies as “a consistent person” With “strong” interventions in the Federal Committee. This was the trust that Ábalos received from the current president, who was chosen to intervene in the censure motion that toppled the government of Mariano Rajoy in June 2018. The movement that was articulated was about no impunity for corruption.
After the PSOE arrived in Moncloa, Ábalos was appointed Minister of Transport, a position he held for three years. Not without controversy, e.g Delsey case. In January 2020, just as Sánchez was inaugurated for the second time, he met with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez at Barajas Airport, when she was denied access to the Schengen Area. The opposition ruled the matter, although justice The case ended up being filed Because “the international transit area of a Spanish international airport is not national territory.” PP and Vox also prosecuted another case that also ended up being archived. The opposition denounced Rescue “guarantee” of 53 million euros To Plus Ultra, an airline “Chavista, bankrupt and without flights,” something he had always distanced himself from.
In July 2021, he was dismissed from his position, and the government did not provide many clarifications in this regard. Pedro Sanchez only confirmed that it was time to open a new phase, and later denied that there were warning signs regarding the handling of public money or reprehensible behavior with women. Soon after He resigned from his position within the Socialist Workers Party Santos Cerdán – also linked to the conspiracy – became the organization’s new secretary. Later, the former minister was on the Socialist Workers’ Party lists in the 2023 general elections.
The authorities arrested Koldo Garcia in February last year and the Socialist Workers Party He demanded that Abalos obtain his deputy’s testimony Due to the seriousness of the accusations directed against his right hand. Abalos refused to resign, was expelled from the Socialist Party and became part of the mixed group. The Guardia Civil continued to investigate the plot and at the beginning of this year Congress allowed the Abalos case to be investigated next It was approved unanimously The request requested by the Supreme Court. This decision lifted Ábalos’s parliamentary immunity and allowed the Supreme Court to investigate him for alleged crimes related to criminal organization, bribery and influence peddling.
In June, the Supreme Court refused to send Abalos and his former advisor to temporary prison, and decided to maintain the precautionary measures that had been agreed upon for both of them – a ban on leaving Spain, withdrawal of the passport, and appearances in court every two weeks. Judge Leopoldo Puente considered this There was no danger of escapeOr destroy evidence or those investigated for committing new criminal acts. Their decision was based on the fact that their homes had already been searched, that all of their phones and computers had already been tapped, and that Heritage investigation Both were “very advanced”.
Now, after both were put on trial and the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office requested 24 years in prison for Abalos and 19 1/2 years for Garcia, a Superior Court judge has agreed to send them to temporary prison without bail. According to Puente, these circumstances would increase the risk of escape. Moreover, he believes that Abalos could have done it Undiscovered “economic resources”. And that he has “international” connections that may facilitate his escape. If Abalos is convicted of the crimes charged by the District Attorney’s Office, he could serve, in the best case scenario, a 12 1/2-year prison sentence.