A sprawling corruption investigation originally centred on emergency Covid mask contracts risks evolving into one of the most politically sensitive scandals facing the Partido Popular in Andalucia.

The so-called ‘Caso Mascarillas’ in Almeria began with suspicions surrounding the award of more than €2million in emergency pandemic health contracts.

But investigators now believe the alleged corruption extended far beyond masks, uncovering what police describe as a wider system of rigged public contracts, illegal commissions and suspected money laundering involving dozens of public works projects and smaller provincial contracts.

Now, the scandal has deepened further after a judge opened a completely new criminal investigation into former Almeria provincial president Javier Aureliano Garcia and his former chief of staff Maria del Mar Gonzalez Zamora.

The pair are being investigated over allegations of administrative misconduct and misuse of public funds linked to a taxpayer-funded trip to Madrid in June 2025.

What is the original ‘Caso Mascarillas’?

The original investigation dates back to 2021 and initially focused on former provincial vice-president Oscar Liria over alleged irregularities in pandemic-era procurement contracts.

As the Guardia Civil’s elite UCO anti-corruption unit dug deeper, investigators allegedly uncovered evidence pointing towards a broader corruption structure inside the provincial authority.

According to court documents, investigators are examining:

• alleged kickbacks (‘mordidas’)
• rigged public contracts
• suspicious public works tenders
• illegal commissions
• possible money laundering

Nearly 20 people remain under investigation.

The scandal has already forced the resignations of both Javier Aureliano García and former provincial vice-president Fernando Gimenez, both senior PP figures.

The new Madrid trip investigation

The latest judicial development concerns a June 2025 trip to Madrid allegedly paid for entirely using provincial government funds.

According to the investigating judge Manuel Jose Rey Bellot, the trip cost €1,892.84 and was officially justified as attendance at a supposed meeting at the headquarters of the Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP).

However, the judge states there is currently no evidence the meeting ever took place.

Court documents reportedly indicate no proof of the event existing and provide no legal justification for the expenditure.

The expenses were authorised internally by Fernando Gimenez.

The judge has therefore ordered a separate criminal case to be opened to investigate the trip independently from the wider corruption probe.

The scandal is particularly sensitive because it strikes directly at the PP’s long-running anti-corruption messaging in Andalucia after years of attacking the PSOE over the historic ERE scandal.

The timing has also fuelled political controversy.

Critics have noted that Andalucia’s snap regional election was called just days before the major trial phase linked to the scandal is due to begin – something opposition figures have described as politically ‘convenient’.

No court has suggested any direct link between the election timing and the judicial proceedings.

Fierce reaction from the left

The latest developments have triggered an explosive political response from the left.

In April, Por Andalucia’s Maria Jesus Amate accused the Partido Popular of being engulfed in a corruption scandal it ‘can no longer hide with propaganda’.

She made the comments after a judge ordered a new investigation into former Almeria provincial council president Javier Aureliano García over alleged misuse of public funds linked to a taxpayer-funded trip to Madrid.

‘The constant drip-feed of information surrounding the Mask Case shows that the PP in Almeria is surrounded by a corruption scandal they can no longer cover up,’ she said.

Amate also directly targeted Andalucian president Juanma Moreno – whom she mockingly referred to as ‘M. Bonilla’ – claiming he ‘must be blushing with embarrassment over what we are seeing in Almeria’.

The left-wing candidate argued that allegations involving public money during the height of the Covid pandemic represented ‘an infamous level of meanness’.

According to Amate, the latest UCO police findings regarding allegedly unjustified Madrid trips are ‘only the tip of the iceberg’.

She accused the PP administration of operating through ‘back-scratching cronyism’ and claimed coded language uncovered during the investigation was ‘an insult to the intelligence and dignity’ of local residents.

‘While the people of Almería were suffering, others were ‘getting their mouths cleaned’ and going to the dentist,’ she said, referencing alleged coded conversations cited during the investigation.

Amate also suggested the scandal helps explain the Andalucian government’s political manoeuvring ahead of the regional elections.

‘There is no snap election capable of covering up this level of corruption,’ she said.

‘There is no smokescreen that can work. Moreno Bonilla is politically responsible for what is happening within his party and he will have to provide explanations both in parliament and during this campaign.’

‘Every euro taken in kickbacks is a euro missing from our healthcare system and our roads,’ she said.

What happens next?

The judge has ruled the Madrid trip allegations should be investigated separately because they constitute an ‘isolated’ incident distinct from the alleged systemic corruption being examined in the main case.

The new file will now be assigned to another investigating court in Almeria.

Meanwhile, the broader ‘Caso Mascarillas’ investigation continues to expand as anti-corruption officers examine years of contracts and financial records linked to the provincial authority.

The ruling opening the new case is not yet final and can still be appealed by the defendants.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.