Editorial: El País

Oct. 12, 2024

José Luis Ábalos, former minister and former secretary of PSOE, is considered a key element in the success of Pedro Sánchez but he's also a main stain on the exemplary record of his government due to corruption allegations.
Abalos has been accused of receiving 'in-kind' payments during his tenure as Minister of Transport (2018-2021), accepting favors from an unscrupulous businessman, Víctor de Aldama, and a supposedly unqualified adviser, Koldo García.
There were pressures from the directors of the airline Air Europa towards Ábalos through Aldama, prior to the airline's rescue. However, the PP fails to link this with a meet of the President's wife and the former CEO of the airline.
Ábalos's meeting with Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodríguez at Madrid Airport in January 2020 calls into question the truth of his statements.
Despite being suspended from the PSOE and called upon to resign his position as a deputy, Ábalos joined the Mixed Group, and his responses thus far appear evasive.

Conclusion: The Ábalos case highlights suspicions of corruption in Pedro Sánchez's government and underlies the need for transparency in politics.