"Didn't you want independence? Go fuck yourself, Long live Spain!": Koldo García collected audio recordings against the independence process.
The voice notes received by Ábalos's former advisor confirm his close ties to the Civil Guard.
Madrid"What's up, kids? They told me that with the application of Article 155, I'm coming to replace Major Trapero. Didn't you want independence? Well, go fuck yourself. Long live Spain!"This is one of the 22,000 audio recordings contained in the three mobile phones and the recorder that the Civil Guard confiscated from Koldo García, former advisor to José Luis Ábalos, when they searched his home in February 2024 as part of the legal case opened against him in the National Court and now also in the Supreme Court. ARA has had access to the audio documents that are part of the summary - there are still files pending incorporation -, among them several where opinions contrary to the independence movement are expressed, not by Koldo himself, but by listeners who called in to radio programs or extracted from shows humorous. "You're so ugly, Puigdemont! I understand that with that face you don't feel Spanish, but you have to suck it up," can be heard in another audio recording in which a man sings these words in a flamenco tone.
A few days ago, Koldo's defense team requested the investigating judge, Leopoldo Puente, to seize all documents unrelated to the case. However, the judge refused, arguing that the defendant had not previously objected when Santos Cerdán's lawyer requested access to all the records. The former number three of the PSOE wanted to obtain them because he suspects Koldo was acting as an informant for the Civil Guard, and part of the defense strategy, led by former CUP leader Benet Salellas, is based on questioning the validity of the recordings. This newspaper has selected some documents with a certain political connotation and has refrained from publishing strictly private conversations.
The use of collaborators
A general review of this vast amount of audio reveals that Koldo recorded anything, even while watching television at home: there is a 12-hour uninterrupted document in which you can hear inconsequential conversations, long periods without interaction, and the noise of a vehicle's engine during a trip. Other clips are more relevant, such as the one published a few days ago of a call from businessman Víctor de Aldama—investigated by the National Court and the Supreme Court for illegal commissions derived from public contracts—in which he acknowledged that the Spanish president's wife, Begoña Gómez, had not intervened in the bailout of Ábalos. The former advisor to Ábalos has been recording for at least eight years, taking into account that there is an audio recording that proves he used collaborators to listen in on a conversation between alleged political rivals inside a bar. Eduardo Madina was mentioned, Pedro Sánchez's opponent in the PSOE primaries in 2014 and they were at odds until he resigned in 2017. At that time, Koldo and Santos Cerdán knew each other from Navarra, but the former had not yet arrived in Madrid.
The recordings of phone calls and face-to-face meetings are what allowed the Civil Guard to implicate Cerdán in the alleged corruption plot. In this regard, the armed institute highlighted the relevance of eight audio recordings in which the main suspects in the case participated. He stripped them of all the voice notes sent and received via WhatsApp.or any other instant messaging app and that would be part of their most private sphere. "It's a very serious intrusion into personal privacy," Koldo himself complained in an interview on TVE a few days ago. There are since The International even an audio document about the Nationalist side's victory in the Civil War. Listening to some of these audio recordings, one can easily deduce his closeness to the Civil Guard, as for example in this one he received from a person who allegedly worked as a bodyguard in the Basque Country, who complained that not everyone can be relocated. "Those of us who work for Spain are being turned away, and the sons of bitches who murdered are being relocated with Spanish money when they get out of prison," he complained.
Unlike the calls or voice notes Koldo himself sent to someone identifiable, there are many audio recordings that are difficult to put into context, as the former Ábalos advisor may have received them via WhatsApp groups and they were saved on his phone. He kept several with opinions contrary to the independence movement, such as one from a radio commentary on Gabriel Rufián (ERC), criticizing him for being paid by Congress after saying he would only be there for 18 months; one from a COPE listener who called the day after the 1-O vote to complain about his treatment; another from a news report about alleged harassment of relatives of Civil Guards living in the Calella barracks a year after the referendum. There's also a call from a woman to a store complaining that she can't buy Spanish national football team shirts in a shop in Tarragona, and a call from an Òmnium Cultural employee to a Barcelona resident urging them to vote in the October 1st referendum, which Koldo also had on his phone.
–Where did you get my details?
–They're public.
–No, my phone number is private.
–It's on our list.
–And where did you get it?
–This list is provided by the Generalitat (Catalan government).
–The Generalitat (Catalan government) cannot provide data that isn't public without my permission, much less to a private entity.
–I know you’re giving us a lot of trouble... We’re just asking you to go vote... Aren’t you a Democrat, then?
–I didn’t tell you not to vote.
–You’re a fascist! Because you’re not registered yet...
–Are you willing to defend yourself against all these accusations?
–You’re not a Democrat and you’re a fascist because you’re not registered yet. These aren’t accusations, it’s the truth.
–I’m recording it and I’ll make it public.
Jokes about corruption
The archive of Ábalos's former advisor was full of racist, classist, fatphobic, and misogynistic jokes, and some even touched on corruption. The lesson of a fable about a fox that eats a bird covered in cow fever that wanted to protect it is that "Not everyone who covers you in shit is your enemy, and not everyone who cleans it up is your friend. While you're covered in shit, don't say a word." In another audio recording, the punchline of a joke about a public city council tender is that a gypsy, in order to win the contract, offers the mayor a commission.
All of this paints a picture of Koldo García closer to conservative and pro-Spanish positions than to a PSOE that came to power thanks to the pro-independence movement, which is so criticized in the audio recordings.