On 2026-10-14, the Spanish Supreme Court rejected the nullity incidents filed by former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García. The ruling upheld their prison sentences and cleared the way for an appeal to the Constitutional Court. The decision was unanimous.
Ábalos and Koldo were found guilty in the so‑called mask case of criminal organization, bribery, embezzlement of public funds, and influence peddling. The court sentenced Ábalos to 24 years and 3 months in prison and Koldo to 19 years and 8 months. The Prosecutor’s Office had also requested a fine of 3.7 million euros.
The Supreme Court’s 80‑page judgment, written by President Andrés Martínez Arrieta, concluded that the three accused had formed a criminal organization with shared functions and committed serious corruption crimes. The court dismissed the defendants’ objections concerning jurisdiction and the evidence presented at trial, noting that their arguments had already been addressed during the proceedings.
The court sentenced Ábalos to 24 years and 3 months in prison and Koldo to 19 years and 8 months.
By rejecting the nullity incidents, the Supreme Court removed a procedural obstacle, allowing Ábalos and Koldo to file an amparo appeal with the Constitutional Court. They may allege violations of fundamental rights.
Businessman Víctor de Aldama, who collaborated with the justice system, received a reduced sentence and will avoid prison, according to the court’s ruling.
The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office had urged the court to dismiss the nullity incidents, stating that they were “necessarily doomed to fail” and must be rejected because they clearly exceeded the scope of the remedy.
The Supreme Court warned that “the nullity of actions under art. 241 LOPJ cannot become a self‑styled appeal for mercy to enter into dialectics with the Court and rebut the arguments it may have set out in its judgment or express legitimate disagreements with them.”