Two high-voltage trials reactivate the shadow of corruption over PP and Government

Corruption once again bursts into the heart of Spanish bipartisanship as an uncomfortable reminder: neither is the past entirely closed nor is the present immune.

While the PP faces in the courts the consequences of a period marked by practices that eroded its institutional credibility, the PSOE faces a case that directly strikes its most recent power structure.

Two periods, two scenarios, but one constant: the corrosive impact of corruption on public trust.

And, between both, a pattern that repeats itself with almost surgical precision: the political utilization of each scandal as parliamentary ammunition. In Congress, PSOE and PP have converted these cases into a projectile weapon on countless occasions.

From the socialist bench it has been insisted that “the PP is the only party convicted of corruption in democracy” or that “the Kitchen is the patriotic police at the service of a party”.

In response, the PP has raised the tone accusing the Executive of being “surrounded by corruption” and directly pointing to the president with phrases like “all this happened under his Government” or “Ábalos was not just any militant, he was his number two”.

The result is a political loop in which accountability coexists with the strategic wear and tear of the adversary. 

The Kitchen case: the corruption that took root in the PP and that once again points to Génova

It was a ruling by the National Court that certified the existence of a corruption and irregular financing network in the Popular Party, the final trigger for Mariano Rajoy's departure from the Presidency of the Government.

Now, the same court begins the trial for the Kitchen plot, a case that cannot be understood without that context and in which about a dozen defendants sit in the dock. Among them, the former minister Jorge Fernández Díaz and who was his number two, Francisco Martínez, for whom the Prosecutor's Office requests 15 years in prison.

The judicial calendar also includes the appearance as witnesses of Rajoy himself and of the former general secretary of the PP María Dolores de Cospedal, scheduled for April 23, in a trial that will last at least three months.

Kitchen is part of the already historic chain of cases that deteriorated the image of the PP during the last decade. Its shadow is long: it connects past and present, and inevitably projects its effects on the current leadership of the party.

Although from Genoa they insist on “respect for the judicial process” and on the need to “look to the future”, the truth is that the trial begins in a particularly sensitive political context, with electoral processes on the horizon and territorial negotiations still open.

The Koldo case: when corruption reaches the core of power's trust

June 1, 2018 marked a turning point in Spanish politics: for the first time, a motion of no confidence succeeded. Pedro Sánchez came to power championing the fight against corruption.

Almost eight years later —and barely 24 hours after the start of the Kitchen trial— the Supreme Court hosts the first oral hearing of the Koldo case. In it, former minister and former PSOE Organization Secretary José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García face requests for up to 30 years in prison for several crimes linked to the procurement of sanitary material during the pandemic.

"I am dumbfounded", declared Ábalos when the case broke out in 2024. Sánchez himself then expressed his "deep disappointment". Today, both await the judicial development of a process that puts under scrutiny one of the most sensitive areas of the Government during the COVID-19 crisis.

The summary includes the statement of 81 witnesses: politicians, businessmen, officials and people from the former minister's personal circle, some of them linked to contracts in public companies.

Far from being an isolated episode, the case has had expansive effects within the PSOE. The investigation has splashed other relevant names and has generated an internal earthquake that has put to the test the discourse of zero tolerance with corruption.

From the party, it is insisted that action has been taken “with forcefulness from the first minute”. However, the absence of assumption of political responsibilities keeps open the debate about the internal management of the crisis.

In this context, accountability is not just a judicial demand: it is an essential condition to restore trust and strengthen democratic quality. Because, beyond acronyms, what is at stake is not just the past of the parties, but the credibility of the system.