Kitchen, Púnica, or Gürtel: the judicial fronts the PP has open this political year

MadridThe PP has begun the political year stirring fears of the "judicial ordeal" that Pedro Sánchez will experience in the coming months due to the cases against his entourage. While it's true that the socialist leader is cornered by the investigations into his two former organization secretaries in the PSOE and his wife, as well as the indictment of his brother and the Attorney General, the PP also has multiple open fronts. Starting with The investigation is still ongoing against former Finance Minister Cristóbal Montoro in a Tarragona court. And then a trial in the National Court that will see another former PP minister, Jorge Fernández Díaz, in the dock for the Kitchen case. In Génova, they are defending themselves by arguing that these cases predate Alberto Núñez Feijóo's arrival as president of the PP. However, it remains to be seen what impact the court dates affecting the party he leads may have on the opposition leader's electoral prospects.

The latest Gürtel trial

November at the National Court

Feijóo's predecessor has already suffered the political consequences of the Gürtel case. The motion of no confidence that ousted Mariano Rajoy from the Moncloa Palace in 2018 followed the publication of the first sentence in the largest corruption case in the history of Spanish democracy. The National Court sentenced businessman Francisco Correa to 51 years in prison for leading a scheme for years (a period that began under José María Aznar) that involved paying commissions to PP politicians in exchange for contracts for companies in his corrupt network. The PP was convicted as a legal entity for benefiting from it, and its former treasurer, Luis Bárcenas, was sentenced to 33 years in prison.

Following this, more sentences have been handed down—two more condemning the People's Party (PP)—for other branches of the Gürtel scandal (which spread across several autonomous communities and municipalities), and a dozen trials have been held. The final trial will take place between November 3 and 17 in the National Court. The final trial, considered the main one, will again try Correa and his right-hand man, Pablo Crespo, and around twenty other suspects for alleged crimes against the Public Treasury for concealing assets and laundering ill-gotten gains. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office is seeking 77 years in prison for the ring's leaders.

The dirty war in the Ministry of the Interior

The National Court will judge Kitchen starting in April.

A few months later, the National Court will host the trial of a case stemming from an attempt to cover up the Gürtel scandal and save the PP and its former leaders from the scandal. This is Kitchen, the operation orchestrated by Jorge Fernández Díaz's Interior Ministry during the Rajoy administration to spy on Bárcenas and his family in order to allegedly steal compromising documentation. The oral hearing against the former Interior Ministry leadership will be held from April 6 to May 28, 2026. The former minister and his former deputy, Francisco Martínez, face a request for fifteen years in prison. Former commissioner José Manuel Villarejo will also be in the dock.

A trial in the Púnica case is underway

A third of the accused have already admitted the facts

The Púnica case, which cornered the former president of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, is still ongoing. Since April of that year, the trial of one of the open parts of the plot involving irregular public contract awards has been underway. Seven former PP mayors are still in the dock in the National Court, and one of them has admitted to the facts. A construction entrepreneur who was a partner of former PP Madrid councilor Francisco Granados has also done so.

Furthermore, the investigation against Ayuso's partner, Alberto González Amador, for self-admitted tax fraud will advance in the coming months.