Puente charges against Feijóo after the election of candidate Patricia Rodríguez in Ávila: "If you place your husband in a municipal contract, they don't ask for jail"

The presentation of the Popular Party candidates for the 2027 municipal elections has provoked a reaction from the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, who has taken advantage of the announcement of Patricia Rodríguez's candidacy for the Mayoralty of Ávila to launch a message against the PP through the social network X.

In response to a publication reporting that Patricia Rodríguez will be the popular party's head of list in the capital of Ávila, Puente wrote: "In the PP, if you place your husband as a councilor in a municipal contract to give paddle tennis lessons, they don't ask for jail. They present you as a candidate for mayor." The minister's comment comes after several judicial decisions known in recent weeks.

En el PP si colocas a tu marido concejal en una contrata municipal a dar clases de pádel no te piden cárcel. Te presentan de candidata a la alcaldía. https://t.co/FvvmjYHR5P pic.twitter.com/JuvvstrVju

— Óscar Puente (@oscar_puente_) July 18, 2026

Rodríguez's designation occurred during the event held this Saturday in the City of Culture of Santiago de Compostela, where the PP kicked off its municipal strategy for the 2027 elections. The party led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo confirmed the candidates for the provincial capitals, keeping the 30 mayors who already govern under its siglas and renewing its aspirants in eleven cities where it currently does not hold municipal power, including Ávila.

Puente's statements also come after the ruling against David Sánchez, the brother of the President of the Government, was announced. The court has sentenced him to nine years of disqualification from public employment or office for a crime of prevarication, rejecting the requests for imprisonment made by the popular prosecution. After the ruling was known, several members of the Executive have denounced what they consider a political use of certain judicial procedures against people linked to the president's circle.

Along these lines, Puente himself published another message on X in which he questioned the current political and judicial climate. "This era will be studied in history books as the one in which the seams of our most essential institutions were strained with the sole purpose of overthrowing a government due to the inability to do so through the ballot box," the minister affirmed.

The debate also coincides with the judicial decision to send Begoña Gómez to trial for alleged crimes of influence peddling and embezzlement. The resolution dismisses the accusations of corruption in business and misappropriation, limits the procedure to these two crimes, and eliminates the precautionary measures that weighed on her as no risk of flight was appreciated. Likewise, the court has supported the decision of Judge Juan Carlos Peinado that the process be judged by a popular jury.